Bakugou & Todoroki's Foolproof 5-Step Plan to Fuck With Mineta Minoru
by BluePhoenix14
Summary: It was a simple enough idea; screw around with the resident bastard of Class 1-A to let him know that his medieval ways and perverted behaviour weren't going to be tolerated by even the most career-focused of UA's students. To say that things had snowballed was an understatement. Todoroki still thought the dossier was a good idea, though.
1. Step 1: Form a Badass Alliance

**Ok so I posted this over on AO3 and, well to say that it got a response is an understatement, so I figured I might as well slap it up here too. This is a crackfic, pure and simple, with Tododeku, Kiribaku and Kamishin on the side. Enjoy! **

* * *

"Do you really think this is going to work?" Todoroki murmured as he and Bakugou eyed the gap at the bottom of the door, a gap that they had just shoved what may be their magnum opus through. Bakugou grunted, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"It's worth a try, even if it doesn't push Aizawa over the line." Bakugou muttered. "I don't think there's any kinda rule that'll make us get in trouble for doing something like this." Todoroki nodded, before he turned on his heel, wondering how their homeroom teacher would react when he undoubtedly discovered the thick folder.

"Come on, we should probably get back." He said. "It's almost 3." Bakugou grumbled – some familiar, terse line about not telling him what to do – before falling into step beside him. The sky outside the windows was dark and heavy with clouds. He winced. It really would not be ideal for it to rain. He'd left his bags in Bakugou's room, and he doubted the other boy would appreciate getting rainwater dripped all over his floor.

"I still can't fucking believe this shit happened." Bakugou muttered as they successfully slipped out of the staff building and started to trek across campus. Todoroki raised an eyebrow.

"What part?" he asked. "The dossier, or the McDonalds fiasco?"

Bakugou snorted, running a hand through his messy spikes. "Fucking _all_ of it, IcyHot. I still can't believe we managed to work together for more than five minutes."

"In all fairness, most conflicts between us are because of you." Todoroki said calmly. "I have nothing against you."

"Well this is why I had shit against _you_, bastard. So fucking pretentious."

"Says the one with a bitch-ass attitude."

"I will gut you from armpit to asshole, you asshole." Bakugou spat.

Todoroki hid a small smile. "Come now, you love me really."

"Fuck off Todoroki." Bakugou snarled. Whether or not he picked up on the actual name usage, Todoroki wasn't sure, but he was content to spend the rest of the walk in silence. They snuck back inside the dorms at about 3:15 in the morning, eyelids finally starting to give a tell-tale droop. Bakugou muttered at him to get his shit later, which Todoroki could concede was a good idea. They parted ways quietly, both heading into their rooms to sleep the rest of the morning away.

* * *

Aizawa opened the door to his office that morning fully intending to chug black coffee for the next hour and blitz through some grading, but the sight of the bulging folder on the floor stopped him short. He hadn't been alerted to any incoming mail, or deliveries, and this certainly hadn't been here yesterday when he had locked his office up, which meant that it had to have appeared at some point during the night.

Bending down, he scooped it up cautiously. A length of string had been wound around the huge folder to keep the contents contained, but even then, what looked to be documents, photographs and notes were straining to escape. Noting the thick, black words emblazoned on the front, he forced his sleep-deprived mind into gear, and read over the title.

He promptly spat out all of his coffee.

* * *

It all started because of Kirishima.

Not that that was meant to be any sort of condemnation of Kirishima; he was one of the most well-liked people in 1-A, and for very good reasons. Other than being generally lovely to everyone, his passion, enthusiasm and kindness had endeared him to everyone. His ability to even befriend the sharp, caustic likes of Bakugou had only elevated his status as the class' MVP.

Kirishima was a very honest person, he always had been, and thus, when the excitable redhead decided that he was ready to tell his close friends about a very important part of himself, he didn't hesitate to do so. Sero was full of warm acceptance and kind smiles, Mina just squealed in delight and hugged him tight, and Kaminari acted much the same, though there was something odd in his eyes even as he told Kirishima that he was manly as hell for being so brave.

Kirishima loved his friends deeply, but they weren't all perfect. He had told them because he loved them, but he had been torn about telling the rest of the class too. He was yet to tell Bakugou as well, though, that was because he wanted to do things right, especially where the angry blond was concerned. He knew that Mina, Sero and Kaminari wouldn't condemn him, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to get rejected by Bakugou just yet. Thus, he loped across campus to tell Tetsutetsu the news as well – who took it even better than Kirishima could have dreamed, and after a sparring session with Midoriya and dinner, went upstairs and fell asleep.

No-one knew how the information got out, since Mina, Sero and Kaminari all swore on their lives that they hadn't said anything. Tetsutetsu was horrified but admitted that there had been a lot of people around the Class 1-B dorms at the time, so it was possible someone heard them and spread it around.

In the end, the result was the same; by the end of the next day, everyone in first year at UA knew that Kirishima was gay. Some took it better than others; Uraraka, Midoriya, Hagakure and Momo all spilled into his room to offer assurances and make sure he was painstakingly aware of how much they all adored and valued him. Iida loudly proclaimed that he was disgusted by the actions of whoever had spread the information, and continued to say that Kirishima was a valued member of their class, and that his sexuality was a part of him just as surely as his hair. Kouda didn't say anything – he never did, but he did smile at Kirishima and offer him a very small, very cute bunny that he had found earlier in the day. Snuggling it definitely made Kirishima feel better about what had happened. Getting outed, as he discovered, was not fun, even with all the support he was getting.

Really, almost all of Class 1-A showed no opposition to his sexuality. The only reaction he got before school started again on Monday that wasn't endless acceptance was from Todoroki, who honestly didn't seem to care. Kirishima avoided Bakugou all of that day, so he had no clue how the blond was going to react. From what Kaminari had told him, Bakugou didn't seem to be disgusted or anything, but he had looked a little put-off. So far, not a confirmation of disgust, so Kirishima was holding out hope. So far, no outwardly horrified reactions. He went to bed a little more relieved than before.

Monday was a different story.

* * *

Todoroki already wasn't having a great day when Mineta started on his usual bullshit, which was probably part of why the whole disaster that was the rest of the week happened.

He slept through his alarm, and was awoken instead by the pounding of Iida's fist on his door and a concerned litany of questions, most of which had been about whether he was sick. He had flown around his room faster than a child threatened with vegetables as he'd tugged on his uniform, thrown everything into his bag and careened out of his room with the grace and majesty of a newborn calf. He tripped over his own untied shoelace and managed to collide with Midoriya, who had been waiting for him outside with Iida.

That would have been fine; hero training meant that everyone in their class was used to tumbling into other people, and Midoriya caught him so they didn't both end up on the floor. But the angle that he had fallen, and the height difference between then meant that Midoriya ended up grabbing him firmly around the waist, and Todoroki ended up with his hands braced on Midoriya's shoulders and his face only about two inches away from the other boy's. All in all, a small mishap with a shoelace ended with them both frozen in shock, locked in an embrace and looking to the rest of the world to be about to kiss.

Midoriya had flushed so red he very much so resembled the left half of Todoroki's hair, and Todoroki knew that he had followed in the other's footsteps in that regard. He received a lecture about being careful and tying his shoes from Iida as he and Midoriya silently disentangled themselves from one another. It was no big deal, he managed to tell himself as they awkwardly walked downstairs. Poor Midoriya was a good friend for having caught him, and Todoroki's ridiculous crush would _not_ ruin the friendship that they had.

The string of bad luck continued as Todoroki got to the kitchen. He didn't have enough time to make breakfast, so he settled for the coffee left in the pot, which was cold and far too bitter for his tastes. He heated up the coffee with his left side, but it didn't do much to improve the taste.

Upon scrambling into the classroom with ten minutes until the bell, Todoroki had finally let himself relax a little, only to realise that his phone's battery was completely flat. He had forgotten to charge it last night. The rest of the class were treated to the sight of him groaning like a zombie and slamming his forehead straight into his desk. Kaminari took pity on him and grabbed his phone to charge it, and as grateful as Todoroki was, it didn't do much to help. He hadn't had time to comb his hair, so his bedhead was on full display, the taste of reheated coffee still clung to the inside of his mouth, and Midoriya seemed to be looking anywhere in the classroom that wasn't in his direction.

Understandably, after the non-stop shit-show that his morning had been, Todoroki just wanted to doze off on his desk, ignore the grumbling of hunger in his gut and wait for class to start. Of course, because Mineta was the worst person in their class, he wasn't allowed to do that. Todoroki normally didn't bother paying attention to Mineta, since he had serious doubts over whether Mineta was even going to end up as a hero anyway. He generally ignored the small boy, unless he was plotting to sneak into the girls' dormitories. He had asked Todoroki to let him in more than once; he had the blessing of Yaoyorozu and the other girls to come in whenever he wanted, since he was actually a decent human being. He had levelled his most impressive glares at the boy for that, though the other never seemed to be deterred for long.

Normally, though, he paid him no mind. He was a pervert, and annoying as hell, but Todoroki ultimately had no real reason to pay him much attention.

That changed, though, the minute that Mineta's high voice cut through the voice of near-sleep that had clouded his mind since waking up.

"I just don't get why everyone seems fine with this." Mineta sneered, expression making his face even more unbearable than usual. Todoroki rolled his eyes, getting ready to dive right back into his nap when he heard what Mineta said next. "If you wanna be gross and bang dudes fine, but you should do it somewhere that isn't UA." His stomach churned, hunger suddenly gone, as he raised his head again and saw that Mineta had his beady little eyes fixed on Kirishima.

Todoroki's hands clenched into fists almost on instinct. The rest of the class were engrossed in the discussion between Mineta and Kirishima, so no-one noticed the reflex response. He had heard enough hateful vitriol about sexuality in his lifetime, though most came from his father. Homophobia wasn't as common now as it had been back before quirks, but it was still around. As Natsuo had ribbed while side-eying Endeavour, the one thing that could be counted on was that society would always have the shitty 1%.

Kirishima looked rather upset, caught off guard and shocked. Todoroki couldn't blame him. Getting outed over the weekend had warranted a rare wince of sympathy on his part, and getting attacked for his sexuality probably wasn't how he had wanted the week to start. Todoroki normally didn't get involved, preferring to hang back and observe, but this vitriol was something had heard before. It was personal.

"Let it go Mineta." He said simply, trying to keep the aggravation out of his voice. Kirishima blinked in surprise at him, as did many other people in the room, as their class seemed to remember that they were able to intervene in situations like this.

"Todoroki's right!" Mina declared, jabbing a finger at Mineta's face. "Leave Kiri alone. His sexuality has nothing to do with you." Mineta huffed, arms folded and face screwed up in disgust.

"I just don't want him to stare at me when I'm changing or anything." He said. "It's creepy."

"You mean you don't want him to treat you like you treat the girls in our class?" Todoroki snapped, irritation flaring. He saw Uraraka's eyebrows shoot upwards, and Momo nod wisely behind Kirishima. Bakugou, who had been oddly silent throughout the whole affair, gave Todoroki a measuring look. He had been oddly quiet since yesterday, and even today his expression was less angry than usual.

Mineta was saved from replying by Aizawa walking into class, and everyone scrambled to their seats. Todoroki unclenched his fists and sat down, wondering when he had gotten to his feet. He caught the grateful look that Kirishima shot him, and felt the tight knot in his chest loosen somewhat. Mineta would get over it, surely.

* * *

Spoiler alert: he didn't.

Lunch passed without incident, though Mineta chose to sit as far from Kirishima, and by extension, the Bakusquad, as possible. That put him dangerously near the table that Todoroki was sharing with Iida, Midoriya, Uraraka and Tsuyu, but a glare from Tsuyu was enough to send the boy scrambling away again.

Hero training in the afternoon seemed to go well at first; they were all paired off and made to do exercises concerned with teamwork and stealth. Unfortunately for Todoroki's sanity, he was paired with Bakugou, and unfortunately for everyone else's peace of mind, Kirishima ended up paired with Mineta.

Working with Bakugou wasn't unpleasant today, if only because he seemed to be more preoccupied with the distant screeching of Mineta than on their actual exercise. The odd mellow attitude had remained throughout the rest of the day. Even when talking to him, Bakugou didn't seem as sharp as usual. It was like he was gearing up to shout whenever he first looked at Todoroki, then calmed down immediately after. It was giving Todoroki whiplash, but he was happy to accept Bakugou's mildly more cooperative air, for however long it lasted.

They finished the exercise early, since they were actually working somewhat in tandem for once, and were making their way back across the grounds when they heard Mineta's voice picking up again.

"…just wrong! Two guys together is just gross! Ugh!" Todoroki felt himself go on the defensive immediately, and was so absorbed by his own sudden reaction that he almost missed how Bakugou stiffened too. The thunderous rage that was so at home on the blond's face was finally reappearing after a day of dormancy. They both scrambled over to Mineta and Kirishima, who seemed to be facing off similarly to that morning. Kaminari seemed to be trying to diffuse the situation, waving his hands in a panic. The electricity sparking off his fingers was a good indicator of how distressed the electric blond was. Todoroki raised an eyebrow in surprise. Kaminari was one of the only people in class who seemed to be able to tolerate Mineta, but he didn't seem to be holding back on criticising him now.

"-a personal thing!" Todoroki heard Kaminari say as they came within earshot. "People are born as they are, man, stop criticising him for that. It doesn't matter who you love as long as you're a good person and a good hero, right?" Mineta was scowling, throwing Kaminari a dirty look.

"It's unnatural." He insisted. "I don't want him near me." Todoroki saw Kirishima take a step backwards, looking disarmed and upset. Todoroki felt a spike of alarm go through him when he saw a film of tears in the redhead's eyes. Clearly, Mineta's words were getting to him. Todoroki swallowed, suddenly unsure how to proceed. Mineta turned to Kirishima. "You go on about being manly all the time, right? How can you be manly if you're off boning dudes?"

Todoroki felt his stomach twist. Bakugou, standing next to him, was terse and silent, face thunderous but eyes uncertain. Glancing around, he could see no sign of Aizawa, which only made his heart sink.

"You're gonna be alone, too." Mineta sneered. "It looks like you really are the only person in our class who's a fa-"

Todoroki cut him off, shaking himself out of his stupor and storming forwards, glaring. "If you finish that word, I won't be responsible for what happens next." Mineta looked over at him, and he was satisfied to see legitimate fear in his eyes. Todoroki could feel his flames thrumming under his skin, ready to escape and burn. Mineta stepped back, throwing a glare at Kirishima before scurrying away. He saw Kaminari approach Kirishima and grab him by the arm, leading him away, back towards the dorms.

"I am going to punch that fucker in the face." Todoroki and Bakugou muttered in sync.

* * *

Aizawa caught wind of the incident soon enough, and Kirishima was allowed to go back to the dorms early, looking a little upset even as Kaminari tried to cheer him up. Bakugou scowled through the whole afternoon. Mineta. Fucking _Mineta_ was managing to make Kirishima feel like shit, and he had failed to get involved. Goddamn Icyhot had done more to defend the redhead than he had. He wished he hadn't frozen up. But that fucking word-

Well, he didn't like it, and even if it was the grape pissant aiming it at him, he didn't want to be called it again.

Bakugou had known that he wasn't going to go out and woo any girls from a very young age, and he had a feeling that his mother had known that too, long before he had ever told her. As annoying as the hag could be, she knew him better than just about anyone. She hadn't looked surprised when he plonked himself into a chair during breakfast and declared the simple but effective statement of "I'm gay, now fuck off and die."

She had just reached out and grabbed his hands – how she knew he had clenched them under the table to hide how much he was shaking, he didn't know – laughed and told him that she didn't give too many fucks about grandchildren anyway. And that had been that. His father had insisted on being one of those sappy fucks who made sure to tell him all this shit about loving him no matter what, but at the end of the day, their reactions had been exactly the same. He had encountered homophobia before, but not so…direct. It made his stomach twist for Kirishima.

He hadn't been surprised to hear the news, yesterday, but he hadn't exactly been expecting it either. It had sent a jolt of electricity through his veins before he had tamped down on the emotion – which felt too close to happiness for him to be comfortable with. The contentment hadn't lasted long, though. Once it had become clear that the whole year knew, Mina, Kaminari and Sero had gone into panic mode. He'd found them grouped together and talking frantically last night.

"The hell are you dumb extras yapping on about?" he'd snapped as he wandered over.

"The whole thing with Kirishima!" Mina said, looking distressed. "Oh god I hope he's okay!"

"Poor guy." Sero had added, face full of concern. "I just wanna find who spread it around and punch them in the face."

"Sure as shit wasn't me." Kaminari had added, shaking his head. "Whoever it was, they sound like a real asshole." Bakugou had paused, mind working back over what Kaminari had said.

"You knew already?" he'd asked Kaminari. The blond had blinked at him, nodding.

"Uh, yeah, he told me yesterday." Mina and Sero had nodded along with that, confirming that Kirishima had done the same with them, before Mina had taken note of the expression on his face, and her mouth had slackened.

"Oh…he didn't tell you." Bakugou had struggled not to clench his jaw.

"No." he forced out. "I found out from fuckin' Round Face." Mina had slammed her mouth shut, looking deeply regretful as Kaminari and Sero had immediately started avoiding his gaze. Bakugou had just swallowed the anger building up and huffed. "What the fuck ever. You deal with this then, if Shitty Hair clearly doesn't want me to." He hadn't called Kirishima 'Shitty Hair' in a while, but the inexplicable stinging in his chest was making him lash out. Mina had tried to call him back, but he'd ignored her and gone straight to bed.

The topic had weighed on him all night. Why did Kirishima tell the others but not him? Did he not fucking trust him? Did he think he was some sort of homophobic idiot? It kept him up later than he would ever care to admit, and though hadn't been avoiding Kirishima, per se, he hadn't gone out of his way to spend time with him either. He slid into a seat next to Kaminari at lunch and didn't bother complaining like he normally might when he was paired up with Icyhot. He knew he had come off as weird, but well, he was entitled to. The one person in this class who he would actually admit he liked didn't trust him.

He let Kaminari take care of Kirishima after the incident, forcing down the urge to stalk to the second floor and throttle Mineta like he so desired. He scrubbed his skin harder than was strictly necessary while in the shower, and stormed off to his room.

He didn't want to think about Kirishima right now, but he did end up thinking about Mineta. The little fucker was a pain in the ass to the whole of their class. He perved on the girls all the fucking time, he was a coward who was absolutely useless against villains, and he had now shown himself to also be a homophobic, medieval-brained asshole. He was a deadweight on the whole of UA, and on their class specifically. Frankly, Bakugou wanted him fucking _gone_.

But that wasn't very 'hero-like', at least according to his dumbass teachers, so he guessed he could settle for making the fucker's life miserable in the meantime.

But Bakugou yelling and screeching at people was something that everyone in their class had become accustomed to over time. It wouldn't mean as much, coming from him. That begged the question; who could he recruit, who would be just as keen to fuck up Mineta as he was, who usually didn't outwardly display anger like he did?

He definitely didn't want to involve any of the girls in this; subjecting them to more time around Mineta than was strictly necessary was definitely some type of war crime or human rights violation, so he considered the guys in his class instead. Kirishima was out, for a similar reason to the girls, and also because, yeah, Katsuki didn't want to talk to him much right now. Deku was off because…well, it was fucking _Deku_, and he knew that the loser would probably be too nice to really want to screw up someone else's life.

He didn't know or give enough shits about Emo Bird, Tentacles, Candy Rush, Disco Fuck and Tails to bother asking them. Fucking Four-Eyes would just give him a fucking lecture about respecting his classmates. Kouda probably couldn't roast or scare someone if he had a gun to his head. Soy Sauce had too big a mouth to keep it under wraps, and Dunce Face actually sometimes got along with Mineta, though the idiot seemed to have been coming to his senses in the last few days. So, that left…

Fucking. Icyhot.

Bakugou sighed. It was no secret that him and the Half and Half Bastard didn't get along too well. They'd been a little better since the Remedial Training they'd done to get their provisional licenses, but they still sniped at one another too often for their relationship to be considered any kind of friendship. But…

Icyhot had stood up for Kirishima twice that day. First in homeroom, where Bakugou was too useless to do anything, and again in hero training, when he had frozen up listening to Mineta. Besides, from what he had heard the guy mutter, he was just as pissed at the grape fuckwit as Bakugou was. It wasn't hard to tell why; anyone with hair like _that_ was fucking gay, but even regardless of personal circumstances, the guy usually didn't step in. Besides, Icyhot could definitely intimidate, Bakugou had to give him that. Fuck, this could work.

Sighing, he reluctantly went into his phone, skimming through the contacts. After the disaster of their summer training camp, Aizawa had insisted that everyone in class had each other's numbers. It was annoying; Bakugou didn't like clogging up his phone with numbers he was never going to call, but he supposed now was a good enough time to capitalise on it.

**Lord Explosion Murder [9:11PM]  
**Oi, you icyhot fuck

**Icyhot Bastard [9:12PM]  
**Why are you texting me, Bakugou?

**Lord Explosion Murder [9:12PM]  
**I have a fucking idea and you're part of it, bastard

**Icyhot Bastard [9:12PM]  
**Oh? Is this you asking me for help?

**Lord Explosion Murder [9:13PM]  
**I DON'T NEED YOUR FUCKING HELP YOU DUMBASS SHIT  
YOU CAN EITHER BE PART OF IT OR NOT I DON'T FUCKING CARE  
FUCK YOU

**Icyhot Bastard [9:13PM]  
**I don't even know what this idea of yours is supposed to be?  
Maybe you should be a little more specific

**Lord Explosion Murder [9:13PM]  
**FUCK YOU

**Icyhot Bastard [9:13PM]  
**Enlightening

**Lord Explosion Murder [9:14PM]  
**LISTEN HERE SHITRAG  
I WANT TO FUCK UP THE GRAPE DIPSHIT THAT'S THE PLAN  
DO YOU WANT FUCKING IN OR NOT

**Icyhot Bastard [9:14PM]  
**I'm listening

* * *

Todoroki knew for a fact that it would look suspicious to his friends if he were to peel away from their sides to go talk to someone else, much less Bakugou of all people, so he tried to make it subtle.

Breakfast was normally a loud affair, luckily, and his four closest friends were caught up in a lively conversation on one side of the table. Midoriya was a little quieter, and as much as Todoroki loved his company, he knew that he needed to slip away to talk to Bakugou. They had worked out the bare basics of a plan last night via text, but had planned to flesh it out this morning before class started. Biting his lip, Todoroki swung his bag onto his shoulder and stood. Uraraka, Iida and Tsuyu didn't seem to notice, but Midoriya saw the motion immediately and cocked his head curiously at him.

"Are you going to class already?" his friend asked innocently. Todoroki shrugged.

"Uhh, no, I uh, actually have to go talk to someone quickly." Midoriya blinked in surprise, but his expression smoothed out, and he nodded, smiling at him warmly. Todoroki firmly ignored how it made his heart flip and race in his chest.

"Oh! Well, I'll see you in class, Todoroki-kun!" Todoroki nodded, turning and fleeing across the cafeteria, hoping that his blush wasn't too visible. Bakugou was waiting for him by one of the doors, looking thoroughly unimpressed. Once he'd managed to school his expression into something less embarrassed, the two of them walked out of the building, Bakugou's usual scowl in place.

"So how exactly are we going to execute this?" Todoroki asked calmly. As happy as he was to be a part of this operation – and surprised that Bakugou had even turned to him for help – he did want a solid plan before they really got into things. "I mean, what's step one?"

Bakugou bared his teeth, not quite grinning but instead pulling off a much more vicious expression.

"I was thinking about what sorts of things that fucker was going on about yesterday." He said. Todoroki nodded.

"Among the rampant homophobia, yes." He mused. "What did you come up with?"

Bakugou gave him a sidelong look. "Well, the little shit only started to back down a little when you started fucking glaring at him. We're both good at fucking scaring that little shit, so I vote we start with that. Make the assrag piss himself."

"Give him the fear of god." Todoroki muttered, smiling ever so slightly. "I think I can do that. So how will we pull that off?"

Bakugou grinned again, savage and unrestrained. "I think I know."

* * *

It was about 2pm in the afternoon, the weather was clear, All-Might was cheerfully overlooking their hero training with Aizawa, and Mineta Minoru was fucking _shaking_.

From the start of class to now, he had endured the entire day with two pairs of glaring eyes fixed on his back. Todoroki and Bakugou, from early that morning, had spent the whole day looking at him like they were planning on ripping his skin off, Buffalo Bill style. They were _prolific_ – every time he went to do something that wasn't entirely innocent, one of them appeared, eyes glowing almost ominously.

He had gone to get a drink, racing to grab it before Midoriya could get to the machine, and Todoroki had appeared at the corner, staring at him with a promise of death in his eyes. It had shocked him so much that he didn't even realise Midoriya had beat him to the machine until he saw the green-haired boy drinking the tea he had been after. Todoroki had slipped away and promptly acted like nothing had even happened.

Mineta had later gone to pull his phone out in class and check out some hotties, but hadn't even gotten it out of his pocket when he felt a stare on him, only to look up and see Bakugou drilling holes into his skull with his eyes from several rows up. He'd frozen in fear again, and his extensive video collection had gone unappreciated.

Perhaps most horrifying had been the incident right before training had started. He had just wanted a little peek of the girls as they were getting dressed – which was completely harmless! – when he had seen Todoroki and Bakugou both watching him, one at either end of the hall. As one, they had made eye contact, and, most traumatizingly of all, immediately T-posed and swooped towards him. He hadn't stopped screaming for ten straight minutes, at which point Aizawa made him sit out of the training exercise that afternoon. Even an hour later, he could see the image of those two gliding forwards, arms extended, every time he closed his eyes.

He shuddered as he felt a cold gaze on him again. Todoroki and Bakugou had ended up paired up for the exercise again today, and Mineta was convinced that they had finished early just to stare unsettlingly at him for the rest of the afternoon.

It was a relief when Aizawa called the day to an end, and they all trudged back to the dorms. Sucking up his courage, he marched over to Todoroki and Bakugou, who seemed to be lingering by the gym doors. Bakugou made a face of utter disgust as he approached, and Todoroki rolled his eyes so hard that he was almost certain he heard the motion.

"What the fuck do you want, pissrag?" Bakugou snarled at him. Mineta huffed, folding his arms and trying to look intimidating. Given that they both loomed over him, it didn't work too well.

"You two have been targeting me all day!" he whined. "I haven't done anything to you! You stopped me from seeing hot babes twice today, and you stopped me from getting my favourite drink!" at this, he jabbed a finger at Todoroki. At Bakugou's curious look, Todoroki shrugged.

"Oh, that had nothing to do with the glaring. I just like Midoriya more than you." He said simply. Bakugou rolled his eyes, smirking at Mineta.

"What the fuck are you gonna do, grape-piss? There's _nothing_ wrong with just _looking_, as you always like to say."

Mineta huffed, more complaints spilling out of his mouth. Todoroki and Bakugou exchanged a look as he kept going. Todoroki took a step forwards, leaning down and making very uncomfortably eye contact with him, before rolling his eyes.

"Ok boomer."

Mineta screamed again.


	2. Step 2: Make Him (More) Widely Reviled

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed and favourited this story! Glad you're all enjoying it so far!**

* * *

"I'm thinking that we need to step things up a notch." Todoroki said casually as he twirled his pen. He had been studying in the common room, and to his eternal surprise, Bakugou had come to join him. They were sitting far away enough that it was clear to anyone nearby that they were not studying together so much as they were studying in the same general area at the same time. God forbid that anyone assume Bakugou was friends with anyone outside Kirishima and the rest of the self-proclaimed Bakusquad. Really, Todoroki would call Bakugou a friend if pressed – yes, they argued a lot, but they also had their moments; the plan they were concocting this very moment was proof enough of that. Bakugou grunted, glancing up from the physics homework he had been going over.

"Yeah, fucking probably." He muttered. "What should we do, then?" Todoroki bit his lip, thinking as he rolled his pen back and forth through his fingers.

They had been inflicting their 'fuck you' plans on the bane of Class A's existence for about three days now, and they had so far yielded incredible results. Mineta looked at both of them like they had crawled directly out of a pit in hell, and Todoroki had noticed that, even when he wasn't purposefully using his right side to make the other boy uncomfortable, Mineta seemed to shiver and shudder in his presence. Though the furthest extent of their actions had really just been glaring at him, sometimes appearing around corners and unexpectedly T-posing to freak him out, Mineta reacted so much and so frequently that an outsider would honestly mistake things as being more serious than they were. The two of them had managed to make him cry yesterday, which had easily been the highlight of Todoroki's week. It hadn't brought joy to just them, either; he definitely recalled seeing Jirou grin all afternoon, and Mina had filmed the whole thing.

"Well, as satisfying and effective it's been to threaten him in a very subtle way, it hasn't done much to really damage his prospects." Todoroki murmured, propping his chin up in his hands. "We've already brought him fear, so now we need to isolate him. Isolation is the best way of amplifying different emotions." He knew that too well, sadly. Every moment of sadness, fear, anger and self-disgust he had endured over his childhood had only been that much worse than normal after his mother had gone, and he was completely cut off from his siblings.

Bakugou paused where he was scrawling out an equation, shooting him a look. Todoroki turned his gaze back to his own English essay, not needing to look to know that Bakugou probably had his infamous, baby-eating demon smile on his face. There was an odd moment of silence, and Todoroki was surprised to see a flash of some unknown, twisted emotion cross Bakugou's face when he glanced up at him, before the grin he had been expecting finally appeared.

"Alright," Bakugou said, placing his pen down on the table and squinting at Todoroki, "so how the hell do we isolate him? Seems like it would be easy, but if we wanna strike this fucker at the heart, we need to make sure that no-one at this school can stand him."

Todoroki smiled then; it was small, and a little malicious, but a true smile nonetheless. "I think he's dug his own grave in regards to Class 1-A, so why don't we just show the rest of UA what he's already shown us? He's creepy, perverted and incredibly annoying, so we just need to alert everyone else of that fact."

If someone else had walked into the common room at that moment, they probably would have, justifiably, mistaken the looks on Bakugou and Todoroki's faces as those of people who had either committed a murder, were about to, or were planning the grisly details of it.

Even without the terrifying expressions, the passion and wicked glee with which they started to map out a plan was disturbing enough.

* * *

"Ugh, I'm so glad it's Friday," Midoriya groaned as he dumped his bag on the floor of his room, slumping onto his bed as Todoroki set his own down more carefully, "this week feels like it's gone on forever." Todoroki nodded in absent agreement as he shucked his shoes off and joined him on top of the futon, maintaining a careful distance so as not to tempt himself into resting his head on Midoriya's shoulder. He didn't want to make the environment between him and his best friend any weirder after the incident on Monday, and he was tired enough to accidentally slip up and relax, so he kept space between them.

"Agreed." Todoroki murmured. "I'm still grappling with the fact that the biggest problem facing our class isn't villains for once." Midoriya groaned, flopping back onto his pillows and shooting Todoroki a pained look. He felt a slight smile twitch at the side of his mouth as Midoriya carded his hands through his own wild green curls. Todoroki's fingers twitched as he resisted the urge to reach over and mimic the motions.

"Don't even remind me. I mean, I know I should try to think the best of everyone in our class, even Mineta, but…" he trailed off, biting his lip before continuing, voice much quieter, "Kirishima was so upset after class on Monday. It was awful." To see even Midoriya – kind, lovely, accepting Midoriya – acknowledging that Mineta's behaviour was completely unacceptable, well, it certainly felt a little like validation for what he and Bakugou were currently doing.

Todoroki winced, nodding as he shoved the thoughts aside. "I can imagine."

"It's just…Kirishima's normally so upbeat and happy! It's like nothing can get him down. It's really upsetting to see how badly _Mineta_ of all people has managed to hurt him." Midoriya was avoiding his gaze, and Todoroki could tell that there was something uncertain hanging in the air, like an odd, surface-level tension that was about to be broken. Todoroki stiffened, unused to feeling anything but completely comfortable in his best friend's presence. He was baffled for a moment before it hit him; this was the first time they had discussed Kirishima being outed. This was, if he cast his mind back and scoured his memories, the very first time they had ever discussed anything to do with sexuality. It could be a touchy and deeply personal topic for some, hence why Midoriya seemed to be so uncertain.

Todoroki bit his lip and looked over at his friend. Midoriya was the most open and endlessly tolerant person he had ever met. It seemed like nothing ever really got to the other boy. Given that Midoriya could still put up with Bakugou, someone who obviously hadn't treated him very well in the past…it was an encouraging sign that Midoriya wouldn't be homophobic, if things came down to it.

Besides, he had just been criticising Mineta's behaviour, which leant even more support to that side. Really, to be certain, one of them would have to take the leap of faith, test the waters and see how the other reacted.

He glanced over at the green-haired boy. Well, Midoriya had taken a leap of faith for Todoroki once. It was only right to return the favour.

Time to make his stance clear.

"I don't know how he gets around with a mindset like that." Todoroki murmured. "Who has the time, in this day and age, to give a shit about someone's sexuality?"

"Exactly!" Midoriya exclaimed as he sat up, the relief in his expression not explicit, but palpable all the same as the tension bled from his shoulders and his smile edged up at the sides. "Given that humans generally tend to be able to accept one another for their different quirks, it just seems bizarre that there are still people out there worried about who's sleeping with who." Todoroki nodded, drawing his legs up to his chest and resting his chin on his knees. The surface tension was gone now, to their joint relief, but Todoroki could tell there was something else hanging around.

Midoriya looked pensive, biting his lip and shooting a sidelong look at him. His stomach flipped over, and he fiddled with his own thumbs, picking at his nails as Midoriya clearly tried to articulate what he wanted to say.

"Uhh, I was going to say, word got around of what Mineta was saying to Kirishima on Monday." He bit his lip and glanced at Todoroki hesitantly again, seeming a little emboldened when he saw no outright discontent on his face. "What he almost said, that is." Todoroki frowns at the reminder. Mineta was a little shit, to be sure, and infuriating in every way, but he had felt incredibly caught off-guard when he had heard the slur preparing to leave the other boy's mouth. It made his stomach curdle, and he shifted his legs so they were crossed instead as he braced his elbows on his thighs. Midoriya was watching him, seeming almost anxious, like he was desperately looking for answers on something.

"Yeah. I was surprised that he would say something like that." Todoroki murmured. Midoriya had somehow shifted a little closer to his side during the course of this short conversation, and Todoroki swallowed as he felt the warmth of his best friend's arm against his side. He saw Midoriya bite his lip, and he felt himself unconsciously angling his body towards the other.

"Kaminari said you looked really angry about it." Midoriya murmured. "I was surprised that you would get so worked up on Kirishima's behalf like that." Seeming to notice how the words came off, Midoriya blushed, waving his hands. "Uhh, not that I'm saying that you should get worked up over everything, of course! I just, uhh, you don't tend to get so involved in things like that."

Todoroki looked up, then, and met Midoriya's curious, searching eyes. He smiled ever so slightly. "It's alright, I know what you meant." Midoriya nodded, cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he fixed a searing gaze on Todoroki, waiting for a proper response.

_Oh_. He was asking something else, here. Todoroki bowed his head slightly. He wished he was selfless enough of a person so have felt so much outrage on someone else's behalf, but at his core, he was just as selfish as his father, he knew that. He did like Kirishima, a lot, but he had reacted so much because it hit close to home. That word was cruel, awful, disgusting…and he had been called it several times before. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"In all honesty…" he trailed off, sighing, "I wasn't just angry because he was being so mean to Kirishima." Todoroki rolled his shoulders, averting his gaze as he continued. "I've had that word pointed at me before. It's not nice." He felt Midoriya's hand wrap comfortingly around his upper arm, even as the other boy was clearly dying to ask a question. His bright green eyes were wide and curious, even as they simultaneously filled with pity.

"I'm sorry Todoroki." He murmured even as Todoroki shrugged. "That's…it's just an awful thing to say to anyone." He nodded, then sucked up his courage as Midoriya gently ran his hand up and down Todoroki's arm in a comforting gesture.

"Yeah, it…hits close to home, is all. I…well, people have called me that for a reason." He felt Midoriya's hand still, and his grip tighten ever so slightly, and immediately went to backpedal. "Uhh, sorry, I didn't really mean to…" he felt Midoriya prod him slightly, and when he looked up, cheeks flushed, his best friend was smiling, almost shyly. Midoriya looked down as his thumb gently rubbed a circle into Todoroki's skin. Todoroki felt his breathing stutter ever so slightly, though he managed to keep it inaudible as Midoriya finally spoke.

"Thank you for telling me." he murmured. Todoroki felt more heat flood his face. Midoriya bit his lip, averting his eyes. "Umm…" he trailed off as Todoroki looked at him curiously, wondering why his friend was abruptly so anxious, "I…well, uhh, I'm, um, I'm bi." Todoroki blinked, the tension in his shoulders completely dissipating. His heartrate started to pick up as the words registered, and he took in the flush crossing Midoriya's cheeks.

"Ohhh," he murmured, stomach fluttering, "I, uh, I'm just gay." Midoriya looked at him then, smiling warmly. They both probably looked the same; reddened cheeks, wide eyes and flustered expressions.

"Okay." Midoriya said, blushing even more. There was a long, drawn-out moment of incredibly awkward silence before Midoriya giggled, and the oddness drained away. "Oh, wow, we are being weird about this." Midoriya laughed as Todoroki smiled a little. "Let's just go ahead and make this even more awkward while we're at it." he jokingly elbowed Todoroki in the side, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Ohoo, got a crush?"

Todoroki was fully intending on straight-up (ha) denying it, but the words stuck in his throat and he ended up releasing an odd, garbled noise, cheeks turning bright red. Midoriya's eyes widened, and Todoroki saw his mouth twitch downwards for a moment before his smile was back in place, though some of the light in his eyes seemed to have dimmed. Todoroki frowned in confusion, but didn't have time to dwell on it before Midoriya was gently nudging him again. "Soooo? Who's the lucky guy?" Todoroki flushed.

_Oh, you do not want to know, believe me_, Todoroki thought, face burning as he scuttled back on the mattress. "Uhh, doesn't matter?" it came out sounding like a question rather than a statement, and he saw a mischievous light enter his friend's eyes, and immediately knew he had made a mistake. "Oh, no, don't-"

"Come onnnn, tell meeeee!" Midoriya begged, shuffling closer to him with a devious smirk on his face. Todoroki paused, watching him warily.

"Uhhhhh…you know…I think I had some chemistry homework to finish…"

Todoroki was barely even able to start moving before Midoriya had tackled him down onto the bed and pressed him there, giggling in mad delight as Todoroki wriggled hopelessly. He went almost completely still when Midoriya shifted his position so that he was pinning him down, their hips slotted together. A breath escaped him, and he just barely managed to clamp down on the noise that almost escaped with it. Midoriya, blessedly, didn't seem to have noticed, and was still grinning cheekily down at him, with his hands braced on Todoroki's shoulders.

This was not a good position to be in. Mostly due to the fact that Todoroki was a teenage boy, and his body reacted to…well, just about anything. Midoriya was just about to open his mouth, undoubtedly to jokingly tease Todoroki again, when there was a sharp knock on the door, and, to their joint surprise;

"Oi Deku! Have you seen fucking Icyhot?" they both stiffened in shock as Bakugou's voice filtered through the door. Midoriya looked a little stunned, glancing down at Todoroki before he seemed to realise what position they were in, blushed redder than Todoroki's hair, and scrambled off his lap. Todoroki took several deep breaths, trying to keep himself calm while Midoriya shuffled over to the door to swing it open.

"Um, yeah he's here with me." Midoriya said, still looking a little flushed as Todoroki peered past his friend to eye the scowling blond in the doorway. Bakugou glared at him, jerking his head in the opposite direction.

"Asshole, you coming or not?" he snapped at him. Right, he and Bakugou had decided to continue their crusade against Mineta this afternoon. He'd forgotten about it when Midoriya had asked him to walk back to the dorms with him. Flushing, he nodded, getting to his feet and grabbing his bag.

"Uh, yeah. See you at dinner, Midoriya." Midoriya blinked, but nodded, eyes flickering between the two of them.

"Oh, uhh, gotcha. What are you guys up to?" Bakugou scowled at Midoriya.

"None of your business, shitty Deku." He snarled, grabbing Todoroki by the shirt and dragging him out of the room, slamming the door shut with more force than was strictly necessary. Frowning at the blond, Todoroki freed his shirt from Bakugou's grasp and sighed, following the other down the hallway.

"You don't have to be so abrupt, you know." He said. "I was in the middle of talking to him." Bakugou waved a hand dismissively.

"You can fucking talk to him later." He snapped. "We've got shit to do, remember? Don't shit all over me because you have a terrible fucking memory." Todoroki rolled his eyes but accepted it anyway. Trying to argue with Bakugou would only drag the two of them into an unnecessary conflict, as per usual. As annoyed as he was that Bakugou had so rudely interrupted his time with Midoriya, they _did_ have work to do.

After all, they had a purple-themed rat bastard to make miserable.

* * *

"Holy. Fucking. _Shit_." Mina murmured, voice almost reverent as she and Kaminari wandered down the halls of UA the next morning. Kaminari couldn't even speak, his mouth was hanging open in shock as he surveyed the walls. They had been positively fucking _plastered_ with posters, and, honestly, as much as Kaminari had appreciated the old 'graphic design in my passion' meme, it seemed that graphic design actually _was_ a passion of whoever was responsible for these, as low-quality as they hilariously were.

They were all in black and white, with deep purple writing splayed across them. At first glance, they resembled the 'who's that Pokémon?' screens from TV; there was a shapeless silhouette that dominated the bottom of the posters, with a large question mark in the middle to obviously indicate that the person's identity was a mystery. However, it wasn't the silhouette that drew attention, but the vibrant words surrounding it on the posters.

The whole thing was headed with a vibrant banner;

CLASS 1-A'S RESIDENT RAT BASTARD, BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH BEING A SHITTY HUMAN BEING.

And the mystery silhouette was surrounded by stunning quotes such as;

WHEN SHALL THIS WASTE OF SPACE, MATTER AND OXYGEN FURTHER PROVE THAT NATURAL SELECTION IS A NECESSARY PROCESS?

GIRLS, KEEP YOUR DORM ROOM DOORS LOCKED, BECAUSE THIS LITTLE SHIT WILL TRY TO VIOLATE YOUR PRIVACY AND UNDERMINE YOUR BODILY AUTONOMY!

REASONS WHY ACTS OF VIGILANTE JUSTICE SHOULD BE LEGAL; EXHIBIT A

THE PATRON GOD OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT CALLED – HE WANTS HIS JOB BACK

And, in the middle, plain as day, with an excellent clip-art of three extended middle fingers below it, read;

KINDLY _FUCK OFF_, YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT.

Kaminari and Mina stared at them, open-mouthed, as Mina pressed a hand to her face, looking stunned before the expression was replaced with delight.

"Well, someone out there doesn't like Mineta." She said, tone cheery. Kaminari nodded unconsciously. Considering what he knew of everyone in their class, there was no way that these posters _weren't_ about the small boy. The purple text only served as a little 'wink-wink nudge-nudge' to anyone in Class 1-A who was familiar with him. He shook his head. If he was a nicer person, he might have moved to take the poster down, but his classmates' behaviour in the last week had been relentlessly unpleasant, and it did bring Kaminari no small amount of satisfaction to see him finally getting called out as publicly as he deserved.

Kaminari was no saint, he knew that, but he never wanted to make his classmates uncomfortable. Where Mineta pushed at every one of the girls' buttons, violated their privacy constantly, and made them all extremely uncomfortable, Kaminari held himself at an arm's length. He liked girls, and he liked _looking_ at girls, but the minute one of them looked like they were irritated, he backed off. Mineta didn't seem to have that same quality. Hence why one of Kaminari's best friends was a girl, whilst Mineta attracted the disgust of all of them. After trying to convince the guy to cool it down and be respectful, and continually being ignored, Kaminari had just about given up.

"My, my, my, I'm surprised to see such low blows from Class A. I thought you were supposed to be _so much_ better than us!" Mina was rolling her eyes before Kaminari could even identify the voice as Monoma's, and he sighed when he turned to come face to face with the arrogant blond.

"Back off Monoma," he said tiredly, "I think this thing is clearly calling out one student, not all twenty of us." He gestured at it loosely. Monoma scoffed, and Kaminari saw Mina huff in his peripheral vision.

"Still, it's things like this that make me wonder why people idolise your class over ours so much." Monoma preened as Kaminari internally groaned and Mina began picking at her sleeves, obviously prepared to roll them up and punch the blond in the face. He was tempted to ask her to punch him in the face instead; if she knocked him out, he wouldn't have to listen to Monoma, and would also get to miss first-period. It was a win-win situation.

"You really think Class 1-B is that much better than Class 1-A?" a new voice inquired. Monoma spun around as Kaminari sought out the source of the voice.

"Of course I-" the other boy abruptly slumped, going completely relaxed. Mina yelped in surprise, and Kaminari felt his eyebrow cocking up his forehead in surprise when a familiar boy with pale purple hair and concerningly dark bags under his eyes appeared by Monoma's side, frowning at him gently.

"Go to your classroom and sit quietly until it starts." The newcomer drawled, as Kaminari finally recognised him. Shinsou Hitoshi, the brainwasher from Gen Ed. Monoma nodded weakly, before turning and going to do just that. Mina was cackling with laughter, grinning widely at Shinsou.

"Damn, thanks! He can be really hard to shut up when he really gets going." She said, looking delighted. "You're Shinsou, right?" at the other boy's nod, she squealed in excitement.

Kaminari grinned. "Oh, that's right! Your quirk is brainwashing, isn't it?" at Shinsou's oddly cautious nod, his grin only widened. "Aww man, that's so cool. I wish I had a useful quirk like that."

Shinsou looked a little taken aback by that, but oddly pleased, as though he wasn't entirely used to being praised.

"Oh, thanks. Yours is plenty useful, though." He said, indicating the phone in Kaminari's hands – Mina's, of course – which he was currently charging. Kaminari forced out a small laugh.

"I mean, kinda, but the minute I go over my limit, I become completely useless." Shinsou shrugged, a sly look in his eyes.

"I mean, you're not completely useless; every hero needs a human shield every now and then."

It was sharp, blunt and designed for a very narrow, moderately cruel sense of humour. Kaminari's sense of humour was nothing like that, but it made him double over laughing anyway, as Mina gasped in shock and immediately went to go on the offensive.

"Oooh, that hurt." He said, though he knew the wide, genuine grin on his face sent a different message. "Why must you hurt me this way?"

Shinsou shrugged, expression again becoming sly as he adjusted his position, removing his hands from his pockets and clasping them in front of him. Kaminari, a known meme-lover and prolific Tumblr user, recognised it immediately, and couldn't resist the urge to reach out and smack the other boy in the arm.

"Oh god." Mina said, rolling her eyes, good humour in her voice nonetheless. "Another memer. Like we need more of those." She sighed, but grinned at him. "I'm gonna head to class. See ya there, Kami." He waved at her as she walked off, noticing that the brainwasher was now examining the poster behind them. He quirked an eyebrow, throwing a curious look at Kaminari.

"Damn, is this true?" he asked, pointing at the section of text in the bottom right of the poster, which pertained to Mineta's typical treatment of girls in their class. Kaminari sighed, a long-suffering sound, and Shinsou made a face. "Yikes. Has anyone tried explaining the concept of respect to him?"

"Countless times, but nothing ever gets through to him." Kaminari sighed. "And as much as I do love these posters, they don't even encapsulate the whole of his shittiness." He glanced at the other boy. "It's kinda baffling that someone like him got into the hero course, but you didn't."

Shinsou shrugged, even as the skin around his eyes tightened. Oof, a touchy subject, apparently. "The Entrance Exam is built for physical quirks." He drawled, tone level but undeniably strained. He glanced at Kaminari. "I bet you had it easy. One zap and those robots are down." Kaminari shuffled a little uncomfortably. True, his scores on the Entrance Exam had been good, probably the best score he had gotten at UA thus far, but it was a little blunt to have it thrown in his face like that.

"I mean…yeah, I guess so. They should really fix it." He trailed off awkwardly, before turning back to the poster, keen to change the subject. "I kinda wish this poster had the rest of his terrible deeds on it, though. Says nothing of the homophobia, for one."

Something in Shinsou's eyes became shuttered. "Oh? I hope the rest of Class 1-A isn't like that." Kaminari blinked at him.

"Dude, _definitely_ not. He's an outlier by far." That seemed to relax Shinsou a bit, and Kaminari considered him curiously. Maybe a strong ally…maybe not. He turned back to the poster, unsure of why the thought made his stomach flip a little.

"That's…comforting." Shinsou said simply. Kaminari nodded, before his phone buzzed, and he yanked it out of his pocket, squinting at the screen to try and decipher the text that he had received – judging by the vibrant profile picture – from Mina. The words twisted and shimmered before his eyes and he dismissed it as a lost cause after a few moments. Normally, he just used the text-reading app on his phone, but it would be a pointless move in the loud, crowded hallway. The posters had garnered a lot more attention while he had been standing there talking to Shinsou.

"Well, I should probably get to class, and try decipher whatever the hell it is that Mina's trying to tell me." He said, waving his phone slightly. Shinsou's eyes darted to the screen curiously, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Seems straightforward to me." He said, sounding a little mystified. Kaminari grinned, burying a twinge of embarrassment. His friends had spent a lot of time helping him become more comfortable with his learning disabilities in the last few months, but it could still be embarrassing to talk about at times.

"In _this _economy? With _this_ dyslexic mess?" he pointed at himself. "No sir." Shinsou nodded, not looking put off at all. He reached out, taking Kaminari's phone and angling it towards himself so he could see the screen.

"'Mineta has been whining and shrieking for ten minutes straight. Get here now if you wanna see Todoroki commit homicide'." He raised an eyebrow, handing the phone back. "Sounds fun." Kaminari flushed a little as he tucked his phone back into his pocket.

"Uhh, thanks." He said, feeling more heat pool in his cheeks when Shinsou smiled ever so slightly, before he angled his body away from Kaminari.

"No worries. Do tell me what that homicide is like." The brainwasher said, lifting a hand in farewell as he vanished into the crowd.

Mood buoyed significantly more than usual, Kaminari returned the gesture, and hurried to class, keen to see his peers throwdown.

* * *

"Please just talk to him, Bakugou."

"Why the fuck should I?" he snapped, glaring up at Mina from where she was standing in front of his desk. He had opted to stay and study in the classroom during lunch rather than join his idiotic friends out in the dining hall. He'd done so to get some peace and quiet, since the normal tranquillity in the time before school had been punctuated by Mineta's screaming (a wonderful sound) and Todoroki's increasingly serious threats to punt him out the window.

But, it seemed he couldn't even study in peace for an hour, because here Mina was, trying to force him to have a conversation with Kirishima, the one person he was dead-set on avoiding today. His scowl deepened, and he pointedly turned his eyes away from her and back to his books. Mina sighed.

"Baku, _please_, he's been down all week-"

"Well that's not my fucking fault!" he snapped, even as the information made the unwelcome feeling of concern slice through him. "I can't control other people's fucking emotions." Mina was frowning at him, her arms folded.

"You know, refusing to talk to him now is making you look kinda…bad." Mina said, voice a little less harsh as she clearly went for a different route. Bakugou scowled.

"Well, considering that he didn't bother to tell me his fucking sexuality the same day as the rest of you extras, he clearly thinks I'm homophobic anyway, so what fucking difference does it make?"

"Because you _aren't_ homophobic, right?!" an odd look crossed Mina's face, and she abruptly looked uncertain. "Wait, _are-_"

"If you honest to god finish that sentence I will boil you alive." He said, tone dangerous. She closed her mouth with an audible _click_, and silence reigned for a moment, broken as Bakugou continued to scrawl down notes, trying to ignore her presence.

"He thinks you hate him, Bakugou." Mina murmured. The words made him stiffen, and he ceased writing.

Hate Kirishima? He only wished he was still capable of that.

I can't hate you, his fingers murmured when they itched to hold Kirishima's. I can't hate you, his stomach declared, when it traitorously flipped and tumbled when he heard the redhead laugh. I can't hate you, his cheeks told him, when they flooded with colour at the compliments that the other boy was so willing to hand him.

I could never hate you, his eyes whispered, when they continuously sought the other out in crowded rooms, drinking in the sight of his classmate.

I don't even dislike you, his mouth told him, when it twitched up at the sides at the stupid messages he found waiting for him on his phone at night.

I might actually like you, the warmth in his chest admitted, whenever he found the other trying to drag him into activities, inviting him out to go to the mall and grab lunch together.

I _do_ like you, his heart said, landing the final blow. I like you far more than I've ever liked anyone else, far more than I should.

I like you. And you don't trust me.

Bakugou scowled again, bending his head to his notebooks.

"Then that's his problem." He spat, not meaning a word of it. "He can come clear things up with me himself, rather than sending you as an envoy." Mina sniffed.

"He didn't send me, Bakugou, I came by myself."

He groaned. "Why the fuck do you care so much?"

"Because I've known Kiri for years! He's one of my best friends, and whether you feel the same or not, you are too! I hate seeing you two fight, especially over something like this. I know your pride has been fucking wounded, but can you try to get over yourself for once in your life and think about how he's feeling right now?"

Bakugou froze, staring at her. He'd never heard Mina so riled up, and it was clear that she was far from done.

"He got his sexuality spilled to the entire school," she continued, "and his best friend, someone he trusts and cares about a hell of a lot, is refusing to even speak to him. I understand that you're hurt he didn't tell you he was gay, Bakugou, but right now, he thinks you're disgusted with him, when I'm pretty damn certain that's not the case."

"I…" he trailed off, clenching his fists and falling silent. Mina watched him for a long moment, before sighing and stepping away.

"Suit yourself, but I just want you to know that I'm taking Kiri's side in this. You're one of my closest friends, Baku, and you know I love you, but right now, Kiri _needs_ me more than you do." With her words ringing in the air, Mina turned and stormed away, not giving Bakugou a chance to respond as the door shut behind her.

Bakugou cursed, a string of words so foul it would turn stomachs, and buried his head in his hands.

Well, he was a little fucked, wasn't he?

* * *

**Please drop a review if you can! I promise it will not take you nearly as long as it did me to write this story ;)**


	3. Step 3: Promote Gay Rights

"Surely we don't need calculus _that_ much to become pro heroes?" Midoriya suggested, tone high and strained as he dug his hands deep through his curls and looked over his notes. "I mean, we won't need derivatives to save civilians."

Iida, perched on a chair next to Midoriya, adjusted his glasses and looked over at him. "Perhaps for hero work, we won't require these skills, but for other matters, they may be useful. Just remember, mathematics is an important part of everyday life, such as for calculating tax or even pay, when we are all hopefully employed in the future!"

Todoroki looked up from Midoriya's other side, a faintly disgusted look on his face. "If I have to use integral calculus to do my taxes, I'm going to go lie in the forest and wait for wolves to take me." Uraraka snorted loudly, clapping a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter. Midoriya couldn't fight a laugh at that, though he was less loud about it than Uraraka. Iida immediately began lecturing Todoroki about appropriate forms of humour and telling him to not be so morbid, while Tsuyu's normally blank expression cleared, and she also smiled in amusement.

Midoriya shuffled closer to Todoroki's side once Iida had finished his lecture and returned to his notes, smiling mischievously.

"Don't worry, I know where Lunch Rush keeps the beef stock. The wolves will flock right over."

Todoroki buried his snort of amusement in his sleeve, fighting down the grin that threatened to appear on his face as he tried to turn his attention back to his notes. In truth, though calculus wasn't bad, and he knew that he would have more cramming to do before their exams rolled around, for now, he understood it well enough to be just slightly bored as he went over his notes from class. Glancing over, he could see a mild restlessness in Midoriya's frame that he was currently emulating.

For all his complaints, Midoriya held the position in class above Todoroki for a reason, and maths was a strong point of his. If Todoroki was bored, Midoriya definitely was too. Rolling his pen around absently, Todoroki let out a breath in a little huff, before tossing it back onto his book and clambering to his feet.

"I'm going to grab a drink. Does anyone else want one? And no, Uraraka, you don't have to pay me back, so don't try and remember what the cheapest one is."

Uraraka flushed, but relented, giving him the name of a drink he knew for a fact she loved, as well as profuse thanks. Iida also politely requested an iced tea, and Tsuyu gently declined. Midoriya bit his lip and seemed to think for a minute, before sending Todoroki a radiant grin and standing up as well.

"I'll come with you. Sitting down for so long is making my legs hurt." Todoroki nodded, committing his friend's other requests to memory as he and Midoriya slipped out of the library and down the hall.

"Glad to see I'm not the only one getting a little bored with the content." Midoriya said playfully. Todoroki smiled a little shyly, ducking his head sheepishly.

"Make no mistake, I respect Iida's work ethic…but I don't have it." he admitted, to muffled giggling from Midoriya. "I can't go over and over content I understand and not get bored." Midoriya nodded as they stopped in front of the vending machine.

"Agreed. Though I have been having some difficulties with extended differentiation, I know I've got enough time to work it out before exams roll around, so I'm not too worried." He turned his warm smile on Todoroki as he punched in the numbers for the drinks. "Are you sure you don't mind paying for these?"

Todoroki wordlessly pulled a credit card from his pocket, flipping it so Midoriya could see the name 'Todoroki Enji, Mr' emblazoned on the bottom.

Midoriya burst into loud peals of laughter, shooting Todoroki a wide-eyed look. "That's…" he shook his head, "that's wicked, Todoroki-kun."

Smiling, Todoroki paid for the drinks, retrieving them from the bottom. Midoriya insisted on carrying some, and after a brief, light-hearted scuffle, Todoroki relented and handed him the other drinks. Smile now a little smug, Midoriya opened his own drink, sipping and humming happily as they walked down the hallway back towards the library.

"I was going to ask, how's Kirishima doing?" Todoroki asked. Mineta's homophobic tirades had lessened dramatically after the posters had shown up around the school, but he had started to make them more vicious to compensate. He'd been particularly cruel yesterday, and Midoriya had cancelled his and Todoroki's plans to go shopping to make sure the redhead was okay.

Midoriya smiled sadly. "A lot better, but he's still upset over it. There's a lot going on for the poor guy, and I think he's just gotten really stressed out." Todoroki nodded. Midoriya glanced from side to side before tentatively asking. "What about you? I mean, most people have been checking up on Kirishima because he's the only out guy in our class, but what about you? You have to listen to what Mineta says, too." Todoroki hummed, sipping his own drink.

"It's…fine. It's easier because it's not directed at me, but I still hate hearing it." Todoroki sighed, leaning against the wall. "I think Uraraka is figuring out why it's bothering me. I've seen her giving me very pointed looks every time I defend Kirishima." Midoriya hummed.

"She's always been observant." He said simply. Todoroki fiddled with the bottle in his hands.

"And you?"

"Huh?"

"Well, the things Mineta says are an attack on your identity, too. Are _you_ okay?" Midoriya blinked, looking a little surprised at having his own question turned back on him.

"I'm…alright. It's always unpleasant to hear stuff like that, but I don't really care much about what Mineta would think of me if he knew." Midoriya shrugged. "I've got thick skin, so insults don't bother me too much. I'm honestly still more worried about Kirishima. He's too nice to have to deal with this sort of stuff." Todoroki gave him a look.

"So are you, you know." Midoriya blushed, the colour spreading to the tips of his ears. Todoroki felt his own face heat at the warm look Midoriya sent him, lifting his drink to his lips again as a distraction, finishing it quickly and tossing the empty can into a nearby bin.

"Honestly I just kind of wish that we could show Kirishima, and every other LGBT kid in this school that people like Mineta aren't the majority, not anymore." Midoriya murmured after a moment of silence. "I definitely want to try and cheer up Kirishima, too, after everything that's happened."

Todoroki nodded, and then went still as an idea burst to life in his mind. He knew that Bakugou would likely agree, given how much rage he'd shown when Mineta had targeted Kirishima in the past, and it would definitely, undoubtedly, piss off Mineta to a very large extent.

Todoroki couldn't stop himself from grabbing Midoriya's face in both hands, ignoring the squeak of surprise and intense flush that spread to cover his friend's entire face.

"You're a genius, Midoriya." He murmured reverently, before releasing his deeply flustered friend and darting inside. He tossed hurried explanations to the others as he gathered up his books and stuffed them back into his bag. Midoriya slunk in the door after him, red-faced and silent as he handed the others their drinks. Todoroki called out some sort of farewell, turning and running out the door too fast to see Uraraka sending a knowing look at Midoriya, or the endless, whispered questions that followed his departure.

He had too much work to do.

* * *

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, gaze skimming between Todoroki and Bakugou as he observed them curiously.

"I will admit, this is an interesting proposal. I wasn't expecting this sort of request from the two of you." Bakugou scowled, averting his eyes from Aizawa, looking disgruntled.

"What the fuck is it to you?" he snapped, glowering at their teacher. "Just because you assholes haven't thought of it yourselves doesn't mean we're dumb enough not to." Aizawa didn't react, just eyeing them both carefully for a few minutes.

"And you two would be willing to oversee some of this? Organisation and such?"

Todoroki nodded, eternally polite and neutral, as Bakugou rolled his eyes.

"No shit, that's why we're suggesting it." he muttered.

"I see. And why now? If my memory serves me correctly, Pride Month is April." Bakugou scowled again. Aizawa was clearly amused; he was only asking the questions to see if they would admit to their real reasons for doing this. It was obvious to anyone who so much as interacted with Class 1-A occasionally that they were all high-strung right now, and there was a clear reason why. Bakugou was known for being spiteful, and Todoroki's petty streak, though not well-known, was no longer a complete mystery, either. Aizawa was just deriving amusement from watching them try to talk their way around the real reasoning behind this campaign of theirs.

Considering that, Todoroki seemed to think it was forgivable if they just told the truth.

"Well, Mineta has been instilling into other classes the misconception that the rest of Class 1-A is homophobic, and spreading unnecessary and unwanted hatred, and I'd like to remedy that."

Bakugou huffed, jamming his hands further into his pockets. "Is that gonna be a fucking problem?"

Aizawa eyed them both for a moment, and Bakugou couldn't help but shrink back a little at his look. Aizawa's gaze was searching and sharp. Whatever he was looking for, he evidently found it, because his posture relaxed somewhat, and he nodded.

"Alright. I'll talk to the rest of administration about it. I imagine most will be onboard with the idea." He looked at them. "I'll update you after we've had the chance to discuss it."

They both nodded, saying their goodbyes to their teacher for the day as they slipped out the door. Todoroki hummed thoughtfully.

"That was a lot easier than I thought it would be." He murmured. "Aizawa being onboard will make this go a lot more smoothly." Bakugou huffed again.

"Yeah, fucking good. It'd be kinda fucked if our own damn teacher was a homophobic asshole, too."

They fell into a (surprisingly) comfortable silence as they walked back, though Bakugou did start up the conversation again as they wandered into the dorms. Bakugou followed Todoroki up the stairs to his room – like hell he would let the Icyhot bastard into his_ own_ room – and dumped his bag unceremoniously onto the tatami mat flooring, ignoring the dirty look he was sent at that.

"So how are we gonna do this? Even if the other teachers don't make it official, we could still plan a few things." Bakugou said. Todoroki sighed, finally giving up on glaring at him, and inclined his head thoughtfully.

"Well, posters for one. The last one was rather successful. We could also just plaster pride flags everywhere. That would piss him off. Really, though, we do need the teachers for this to work really well. It would certainly make it easier to spread all of this information."

Bakugou nodded. "And a wide range of information, too. That fuckface is straight up homophobic, yeah, but I'm willing to bet that transphobia and a bunch of other shit fits him well, too." He looked over at Todoroki. "He would only work himself into more and more of a fit if we included shit about bisexual and ace people and stuff like that." Todoroki nodded, eying Bakugou. He huffed, glaring at the other boy. "What the fuck are you staring at me like that for?"

"Nothing, it's just…I was beginning to wonder if you were a little homophobic, for a while, but I can tell now that you aren't."

Bakugou almost saw red, and he whirled around to face Todoroki, bristling with anger and almost spitting his fury. "You thought fucking _what_?"

Todoroki wasn't fazed at all by his aggression, just shrugging simply. "I thought initially you might be a little homophobic, and that you were angry at Mineta because of his general shittiness, rather than the homophobia in particular." Bakugou growled, stepping forwards and grabbing Todoroki roughly by the front of his shirt.

"Why the fuck did you think I was a homophobic asshole?" he sneered, visibly seething. Todoroki raised an eyebrow but otherwise didn't react, which only made him angrier.

"You completely stopped talking to Kirishima after he came out, for one. That sends a bit of a bad message. Besides, even when Mineta was getting ready to throw around actual slurs, you didn't do anything. It was an assumption, and it was an incorrect one, but I had my reasons for thinking that way."

Bakugou hissed, dragging Todoroki closer. "Listen up, you dumbass, candy-cane themed _fuck_. what goes on between Kirishima and I is none of your fucking business, and I can speak up when I want to, about whatever shit I want to. Don't go thinking that someone's an asshole just because they haven't done anything."

Todoroki glared, and Bakugou felt satisfaction bubble up inside when he saw legitimate anger building in the other boy's heterochromatic eyes. "Doing nothing is sometimes just as bad. It's excusing bad behaviour by not shutting it down." Bakugou narrowed his eyes. Icyhot wasn't entirely talking about making homophobic slurs anymore, and they both knew it.

"Listen here, dickwad, there's a big difference between what you're talking about, and what I'm talking about." Todoroki glared again, stepping forwards so he and Bakugou were even closer. As much as Bakugou hated it, the move made the height difference between them all the more obvious, and his mood only worsened when he had to tilt his head back slightly to make eye contact.

"You-"

"Hey, Todoroki, did you wanna-" they both froze, heads snapping to the side to see Midoriya, who had just wandered innocently in the door, phone in hand, staring at them, looking stunned. Bakugou abruptly became horrifying aware of the position they were in; his hand fisted in Todoroki's shirt, head tilted up to see the other, Todoroki looking down at them. Oh shit.

Evidently, Midoriya interpreted the situation that way, too, because his face flushed, and he bit his lip, averting his eyes.

"O-oh, s-sorry, T-todoroki, K-kacchan…I'll…um, I'll go now." Without another word, or allowing either of them a moment to explain the situation, Midoriya was gone, having turned on his heel and practically fled out the door.

Todoroki looked shell-shocked, his expression growing more and more distressed under the layer of apathy he plastered on at all times. Bakugou released the front of his shirt and stepped back, shoving his hands back into his pockets.

"Just because there were some assholes in the past who looked at what goes on in your fucking house and decided it was okay, does _not_ mean it's the same as not reacting to a slur. There's a big fucking difference." Todoroki started in surprise as Bakugou spoke, and the complete stillness that came over him when the words registered was disquieting. Bakugou shuffled, sensing the unsaid question but not entirely knowing how to answer it. Plain honesty was probably best, though. "I overheard you and Deku at the Sports Festival. Shit's fucked."

"You were eavesdropping." Todoroki said, voice cold, colder than it had been in a long time. Bakugou squared his shoulders and glared right back at him.

"Shit. Is. Fucked. And you know that. If it keeps fucking with you, I'm going to Aizawa. You think I fucking care about the rest of your family?" Todoroki seemed to have been rendered speechless at that. "But just like you have reasons, though they seem like stupid fucking reasons, for not turning your shithole father in, I have reasons for not talking to Kirishima, or not reacting immediately to things like you do. You don't get to decide how those reasons do and do not make me act." He scowled fiercely again, marching over to the door and picking up his bag. He paused, debating his next words before looking over his shoulder to glare at Todoroki.

"And also, calling a gay guy homophobic? You're a fucking dumbass."

Bakugou slipped outside, cursing the both of them.

* * *

"I really am an idiot." Midoriya muttered to Uraraka as he crammed another handful of caramel popcorn into his mouth, chewing mournfully. "I mean, they've been spending so much time together recently, after all-"

"You're not an idiot, Izuku." Uraraka consoled him. "I wouldn't have predicted the two of them becoming an item either. They seem to hate each other, after all. I mean, are you certain that they're a thing?" Midoriya sighed, throwing her a morose look.

"They looked like they were about to kiss, 'Chako." He said sadly. "I, ugh, I'm such a terrible friend."

Uraraka didn't hesitate to sit up and slap him hard on the arm for that. Ignoring his yelp, she fixed him with a stern look.

"None of that now." She lectured. "It's perfectly normal to be upset when your crush doesn't like you back, Izuku. It doesn't make you a bad person in the slightest. Besides, considering _who _he's apparently dating, I can't blame you for being upset. I mean," she shot him a sidelong look, "Bakugou's hardly been kind to you over the years, right?"

Midoriya sighed, fiddling with one of the charms attached to his phone. Todoroki had given it to him; it was a small plush of All-Might in his silver age costume. Todoroki had bought it for him when he'd been dragged to Sapporo by his father for some sort of important conference. It had made Midoriya almost giddy with joy when he'd gotten it; less for the nature of the gift, and more for the fact that Todoroki had bought it because it had reminded him of Midoriya. He'd gone to bed the night he'd gotten it flushed and far too happy.

"Still, he's allowed to date whoever he wants! I have no right to be upset if my feelings aren't returned. My feelings aren't his responsibility to deal with, after all." Midoriya mumbled. "And I guess him and Kacchan make a kind of sense if you really look at it. They might clash a lot but their personalities are similar in a lot of ways, not to mention they're both very powerful and incredibly driven. They both have strong quirks and they're both very proud and passionate about what they do-"

Uraraka flicked him in the forehead with a single finger. "You're muttering, Izuku." He broke off his audible stream of thought, flushing.

"Sorry." He murmured. "I just…I mean, I'm disappointed, but I need to get over myself. If he's happy, then I should be glad for him, not wallowing in my own sadness." He sighed. Uraraka hummed uncertainly.

"You're a great friend, Izuku, but don't go and suppress your own feelings just for his sake." Uraraka said gently. "You're allowed to be upset, you know." Midoriya sighed, nodding.

"Thanks, Chako." He sat up, rubbing at his eyes. "I should probably stop bothering you and get some work done." Uraraka gave him a warm smile.

"You? Bother me? Never." He smiled back, clambering to his feet.

"Thanks for listening to me complaining." He said. Uraraka laughed.

"Considering how much time I spent whining about that art project last week, it's only justified." She winked at him. "You up to grab burritos for dinner?" Midoriya nodded in excitement. They'd been given permission recently to go out in groups of three or more to buy food and other things. It was a privilege that was liable to be withdrawn at any moment, depending on how active the League of Villains was, but Class 1-A was cherishing it every moment they could.

"Of course! We'll meet up at 7 to drag Iida along?" Uraraka nodded, grinning gleefully as he said his farewells and slipped out.

The last week had just been too hectic to handle, not even considering today's revelations. He bit his lip as the memory of Todoroki and Kacchan, standing so close to one another, eyes fixed on each other, rose to the surface of his memory. He sighed, running a hand through his wild curls as he darted out of the girls' side of the dorms, firmly ignoring the pitiful begging of a certain purple-haired pervert to give him access, and returned to his own room.

He had liked Todoroki for a while, though it had taken him a while to figure out that what he was feeling was a proper crush. Given that he had only gotten proper _friends_ this year, it wasn't surprising that it had taken him a long while to figure out that his feelings for the red- and white-haired teen went beyond their budding friendship. The butterflies in his stomach, his incessant blushing when the other was near, the rollercoaster ride his heart had gone on when he'd heard Todoroki laugh for the first time…it seemed obvious in hindsight. The more time had passed, the deeper he had fallen into his feelings for the other boy, to the point where keeping them hidden had started to become legitimately hard.

Uraraka had noticed and immediately weaselled the information out of him, and Midoriya suspected that Tsuyu was also aware of his crush. Iida, as kind as he was, seemed to be a little more oblivious. Midoriya had feared that, since Uraraka had noticed so fast, that Todoroki too would have realised his feelings. Uraraka had been there to comfort him.

"I doubt it," she had assured him, "don't get me wrong, I love Todoroki, but he's pretty dense at times. He's probably completely clueless where your crush is concerned. Don't stress about it."

That had sated him for a while, but Midoriya couldn't help but also regret that a little. A part of him, the brave part, wished Todoroki could notice his feelings and (ideally) reciprocate. Given that the other seemed oblivious, though, that meant Midoriya would have to confess if he ever wanted to go beyond friendship, and that was a very high risk situation. He didn't want to ruin his friendship with Todoroki – he treasured it too much for that – and he definitely didn't want it to end because he couldn't keep his own feelings under wraps.

In any case, it didn't matter anymore. Todoroki and Kacchan seemed to be together, by all outward appearances, and though it hurt, Midoriya knew that a good friend would be supportive, and that was what he was determined to do.

* * *

Shinsou was both surprised and oddly touched when the teachers announced that they would be having a week to promote LGBTQ+ people and identities. He hadn't expected this – it was a little out of left field, not least for the fact that Pride Month was April in Japan, but he was happy enough to go along with it. His class also largely seemed to be onboard, though there was one girl, whose family was _very _Christian, who seemed a little uncertain.

When Vlad King asked if there were any volunteers to help them put up posters, Shinsou only hesitated slightly before sticking his own hand in the air. He found himself shuffled into the hallway after lessons were done for the day, and almost immediately ran straight into a familiar, blond electric-quirk user. Kaminari brightened when he saw Shinsou, waving him over to where he was trying to pin up a large poster about asexual people.

"Hey!" Kaminari exclaimed happily. "You volunteered too?" Shinsou nodded, which only made Kaminari's grin widen. "Nice! Wanna help me stick this up? I'm a little too short, tragically." Suppressing a snort of amusement as he watched the shorter boy bob up and down on his toes, Shinsou obliged, stepping forwards to pin the poster up at the top while Kaminari handled the bottom.

"There's a lot of people from Class 1-A here." Shinsou noted as he looked down the hallway. It seemed like the vast majority of the group had shown up to help. Kaminari nodded, smiling again.

"Yup! I think everyone feels bad about the Mineta business, so they want to show Kirishima that no-one agrees with him." He inclined his head over to a familiar head of spiky red hair, who was bracketed by a girl with bright pink skin, and a boy with abnormal elbows, all of them grinning as they pinned up posters and flipped through leaflets.

"Mineta?" Shinsou asked. Kaminari sighed, a long-suffering sound that made the corners of Shinsou's mouth tug upwards.

"Yeah, he's a guy in our class. Kinda a dick, not gonna lie." Kaminair turned to face him. "You know those posters that got put up a few days ago? About the class' 'resident rat bastard'?" Shinsou nodded. "Yeah, that's him. He's just a general nuisance, really." Shinsou raised an eyebrow.

"He sounds like he's fairly well hated, if someone was willing to go to all of that trouble." He murmured. Kaminari made a face.

"I mean, the guy's a tried and tested pervert. He's always trying to break into the girls' locker rooms or peek up their skirts. And he was super homophobic when Kirishima got outed two weeks ago, so yeah, basically the whole class hates him now."

"Yikes." Shinsou murmured. "I'm surprised Aizawa tolerates him." Kaminari huffed out a laugh as he scooped up a chain of rainbow paper links and started to wrap it around the banister of a staircase.

"Yeah, I know. Considering that he's expelled like 200 students, it's a bit surprising that he's let Mineta stay for so long." Shinsou nodded. Aizawa was strict, and quick to expel people, it was true, but it struck Shinsou as interesting that he had tolerated the presence of what sounded like an incredibly homophobic student for so long. Of course, Kaminari didn't have the perspective on Aizawa that Shinsou did, but just recalling the many times the two of them had staggered home, exhausted, to be greeted by a loud and happy Present Mic, that was enough to make Shinsou curious. He had watched Aizawa get showered in enough semi-welcome hugs and kisses by his blond husband to know that he _definitely _wasn't homophobic.

Shinsou hummed, deciding to ask his mentor and pseudo father figure about it later, before examining a table of pamphlets. He picked one up, smirking slightly. Given that Kaminari was out here volunteering to hang out pro-LGBT materials, well, it was a good sign that his own identity would be well received. It was a bit of a stretch to hope that any flirting on his behalf would result in anything, but it was worth a try – Kaminari was friendly, witty, rather attractive, and wasn't scared off by Shinsou's quirk. If Shinsou could land a date with him, he would be very happy.

He looked over at the bundle of pamphlets that Kaminari had just picked up to set out. He noted the one on top, and tapped it.

"Oh shit, it me." He joked simply. Kaminari blinked at him, looking down at the pamphlet, which was, as the cover itself dictated, all about people who identified as Queer. Kaminari smiled, and Shinsou allowed himself to smirk a little when he spotted a flush on the blond's cheeks. Kaminari wordlessly shuffled through the stack, pulled one out and handed it to him, before scampering off, face flushing even more.

Shinsou smiled at the pamphlet in his hands, registering the three different colours. So, he had a chance after all.

* * *

Bakugou steeled himself, biting his lip as he paused outside Kirishima's door, hand raised and ready to knock. His argument with Todoroki had shaken him up more than he had expected it to, and as mad as he was at the stupid Icyhot bastard, it had made him think about the situation with him and Kirishima. As badly as the asshole had put it, he was right. Avoiding someone right after they were outed definitely came off as homophobic, and given that he was _fucking gay_, it would be best to remedy that as soon as possible.

He was about to just fucking go for it and knock, when he heard a raised voice inside, and hesitated, recognising it as Kirishima's.

"I _can't_, Mina, I just _can't._" he said, sounding distressed. "He would hate me."

"Come on, Kiri, I doubt that." He heard Mina say. "He's a little rough around the edges, but I think we can all agree that he's all soft and squishy at the centre." Bakugou raised an eyebrow. From what he could gather, it sounded like they were talking about him. He scowled at Mina's description of her. Fuck, he carried her up to her room _once_ after she fell asleep on the couch, and she thinks he's all soft? Dumbass. He hesitated. He shouldn't stand out here and listen, he knew that, but he had no idea how Kirishima would feel about talking to him, and it was better to not go in completely blind.

"He would, I just know it." Kirishima sounded…fucking _heartbroken_, to the point that Bakugou winced. "Telling him is completely different to telling you. I doubt Bakugou would be as relaxed about it."

Bakugou stiffened. So, this _was_ about him, then. Then, the rest of Kirishima's sentence hit him, and his hands tightened into fists. So, this was something that fucking _Raccoon_ _Eyes_ knew and he didn't? For fuck's sake, Kirishima really didn't trust him, did he? He only felt his rage increase as he heard more.

"Like Kaminari said, he might be really receptive to it! You'll never know if you say nothing!"

Oh, so by the sounds of things, _all_ of his friends minus himself knew about this, whatever it was. He felt his anger subsist, and something harsh and sharp embedded itself in his centre, a stabbing sensation spreading outwards. No, he was not _hurt_ by this, he just…

His closest friend – fuck it, _best _friend – had been going around telling everyone but him all these apparently deeply personal things, and failing to extend the same courtesy to Bakugou. He lowered his hand from where it had still been pointlessly raised to knock, and swallowed, feeling an odd, foreign burning behind his eyes. His stomach turned, and he stepped away from the door, choosing to leave the dorms rather than sit and stew in his own room. This whole situation was fucking annoying.

* * *

Kirishima paused as he heard footsteps retreating from near his door, and shared a single horrified look with Mina. His pink friend stumbled to her feet from where she had sprawled herself across his floor, and moved over to the door, opening it just a crack.

He knew just from the way her face screwed up in horror and regret, but the words still made his stomach plummet. "Shit, that was Bakugou."

"You think he heard us?" Kirishima asked hesitantly, hoping against hope that the explosive blond hadn't, but knowing better than to expect such a thing.

"He looked ready to commit a homicide. Even more so than usual, I mean, so I think it's likely." Mina murmured hesitantly, slumping back down onto the floor beside him. "Honestly, Kiri, just tell him."

Kirishima shook his head violently. "No! No way! He probably hates me already, considering how much he's been avoiding me the last few weeks. I would just alienate him completely." He looked down, eyes tearing up, feeling completely wretched. "I…I really don't want to lose him, Mina."

Mina's hand came to rest on his shoulder comfortingly, and he let her drag him into a warm hug.

"Kiri…I don't wanna be blunt, but the last few weeks, it doesn't seem like you've had much of a friendship with him anyway. Considering the way you two have been acting around each other…isn't it better to just be honest at this point? What do you really have to lose?"

Kirishima sighed, burrowing his face into Mina's shoulder. "I know…I just…" he took a deep breath, "It's such a scary thing to do."

Mina hummed sympathetically, running a hand through his loose red hair. "I know it is, but we're gonna be heroes, right? We gotta learn to be brave." Mina tickled at his scalp. "In lighter news, you might wanna do a redye soon, your roots are showing."

"Are they?" he sat up, glancing at himself in the mirror and sighing. "Shit, you're right. For both things." He elaborated. He rubbed at the back of his head. "I…I'll try."

Mina smiled at him. "You'll do great."

Kirishima smiled weakly in return. "I just hope he doesn't blow me to bits."

* * *

"See, there actually is a difference between bisexual and pansexual. Though, practically speaking, the two operate the same way, the difference is mostly down to personal identification. Lots of people use pansexual to explicitly make clear that they are attracted to all groups regardless of gender or gender identity, whereas bisexual, though it indicates attraction to two or more genders, does not explicitly state attraction to _all_ genders or gender identities." Momo explained to a curious-looking Sero, who nodded after a confused expression briefly crossed his face.

"Oh! I get it now! So, if you were attracted to like, girls and non-binary people, you'd be bi, but if you were attracted to the whole lot, you're pan?" at Momo's nod, he punched the air victoriously. "Hell yeah!"

Todoroki hid his smile as he watched his classmates ask around about different identities. Shinsou from the General Course had somehow ended up in their classroom, and was currently perched on the end of Kaminari's desk, explaining to Mina, Iida and Tokoyami how 'queer' was both a sexual identity and an umbrella term for non-heterosexual people. Mina was nodding along in interest, and Todoroki could see that Iida was writing down notes as he listened.

Aizawa was napping at the front of the classroom, occasionally opening his eyes to answer the questions that were sometimes lobbed at him before going back to sleep. Kirishima was practically glowing with happiness as people both asked him questions and dragged him into other conversations. He looked comfortable and happy with his identity, which was enough to cheer Todoroki up immensely. He could see Bakugou sitting in the corner scowling, but his expression softened every time he saw Kirishima. Sighing, Todoroki slid out of his own chair and moved over to talk to him, not seeing how Midoriya's bright smile faltered when he saw the movement.

"Hey." He murmured. Bakugou turned to face him, and scoffed, but thankfully didn't turn back around.

"The fuck do you want, Icyhot?" he snapped, though the delivery was a little less venomous than it normally might be.

"I'm sorry." Todoroki said. Those words were always hard for him to say, even when he meant them more than anything. Bakugou's grumbling fell silent, and he knew that the other's attention was on him properly now. "I misjudged you and offended you, and I didn't mean to." He really wasn't sure what to say other than that, so it was a relief when Bakugou just huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Fine, whatever." He glanced back over at Kirishima. "Just don't accuse me of dumb shit again." Todoroki nodded, feeling a weight slide off his shoulders.

"I won't. And…" he hesitated. Coming out to Midoriya first had made perfect sense; his friend was extremely kind, accepting and knew him better than almost everyone. The same could not be said for Bakugou, but he had started to feel a sense of kinship with the other. He took a deep breath, deciding to take the plunge. "Ditto, to what you said as you were leaving."

Bakugou didn't react, just huffed and nodded. "Yeah, I guessed." Todoroki raised an eyebrow.

"How?" Bakugou smirked then, and for once it wasn't nasty or cruel, but purely amused, as he jabbed a finger at Todoroki's hair.

"Anyone with hair like that is fucking gay." He said, voice low. Todoroki raised an eyebrow, but couldn't quite stop the small smile that burst to life on his face.

"You're such an asshole." He said. Bakugou grinned, savage and unapologetic.

"Ditto, motherfucker." He crowed, before nodding across the classroom. "We got a more pressing issue." Todoroki followed his gaze, only to see Mineta looking deeply annoyed and disgusted by the conversations going around him, eyes fixed angrily on Kirishima, as if the friendly red-head was the driving force behind all of this. He was fidgeting in his seat, and Todoroki and Bakugou barely even had to exchange a glance before they were both sliding out of their chairs and slipping across the room.

Mineta barely had time to stand, eyes fixed on Kirishima, before he had a harsh hand on either shoulder, pushing him down into his seat.

"Don't even think about it, fuckface." Bakugou sneered, Todoroki standing beside him as a silent support. Mineta audible gulped, looking up at them. Todoroki, deciding to be petty, plucked a pamphlet from a nearby pile and flipped it open.

"Ooh, this is about the intricacies of transgender identities and how to refrain from misgendering your friends." Todoroki said, sliding into the seat next to Mineta's. "Let's all read it together, yeah?"

With Bakugou grinning maniacally and Mineta shaking in fear as he was forced to pay attention, Todoroki promptly talked the two of them through asking for pronouns and terminology used by trans people. Todoroki at one point made eye contact with Aizawa, who was still curled up in his sleeping bag. Their teacher just nodded, as if to say, _as you were_, and turned over to sleep again.

Bakugou's delighted cackling could probably be heard three classrooms over.


	4. Step 4: Make Your FBI Agent Proud

Todoroki froze mid-step, turning back to face Mineta as the word sunk in. Next to him, Iida also froze, a look of righteous indignation spreading across his face. Stomach churning, he glared at the small boy, who seemed to have become immune to the look because of how often Todoroki had inflicted it on him. Mineta merely folded his arms and glared at him.

"Mineta! That is extremely inappropriate language! You should not use words like that against other people!" Iida yelled, arms waving aggressively. Todoroki didn't often see Iida get angry, so it was odd to see him doing so on his behalf. Todoroki could feel his fingers twitching on occasion as he took a deep breath. He felt unsure of whether he wanted to scream or just stay silent and try to fight down the sharp, stabbing pain of hurt, and the old sting of self-hatred that rose to life.

"I'm not apologising for it." Mineta spat, fixing his beady eyes on Todoroki. "He _is_ a _fag_."

Todoroki drew in another deep breath, clenching his hands into fists. He saw Mineta's eyes track the movement before he shoved them into his pockets.

"Iida." He said, voice easily cutting through his friend's angry lecturing. "Forget it, let's go."

Iida whirled around to look at him. "But, _Todoroki_-"

"It doesn't matter." He said, managing to keep his voice level despite the emotions bubbling away under the surface.

"Tch," Mineta was somehow still talking, "you just don't wanna face the truth."

Todoroki clicked his tongue, warning Iida with a look to not get involved. "I don't know what you're talking about." Mineta sneered.

"Ugh, you're just like Kirishima, aren't you? One of those freaks who wants to fuck guys."

Todoroki took another measured breath. Iida, still standing next to him, looked incredibly angry. "I really don't understand your obsession with other people's sexualities, Mineta. But, for the record, I don't particularly care what you think of me."

He could feel Iida's gaze on his back. "Todoroki…"

He stepped forwards, towards Mineta, who was starting to look a little uncertain now. "You need to stop targeting people just because they happen to be gay. Those sorts of thoughts belong in the middle ages, and I know that everyone else in our class agrees." He knelt down so he could make eye contact with the other boy properly. "And this _fag_ isn't going to sit by and let you think it's okay to be so cruel to other people for superficial reasons." He straightened up again, turned on his heel and stormed away, leaving Mineta in the dust.

He heard footsteps behind him, barely glancing over to Iida when the other caught up to him.

"Todoroki…" he heard the taller boy murmur, voice full of concern.

"It's fine." He said, trying to suppress the quivering in his voice. He knew he failed, and he paused when he felt Iida's hand on his arm. His breathing was coming fast and borderline frantic, and Todoroki sucked in a breath, trying to stay calm.

"No, it's not." Iida said gently. "Are you alright?" Todoroki hesitated, then nodded. Iida sighed. "No, you aren't." Todoroki clenched his fists, less out of anger and more as an attempt to stay calm. He felt Iida gently squeeze his arm. "It's okay to not to be alright, after something like that."

"I know." Todoroki murmured, drawing in another shaky breath. "I…know that."

He finally met Iida's gaze, and had to steel himself not to recoil from the sympathy he saw in his eyes. "Don't…" he hesitated, "don't tell anyone? Please? My…my father wouldn't be happy, if he found out I'm…" he trailed off.

Iida's face crumpled in sadness, and Todoroki abruptly found himself ensconced in Iida's arms, and realised he was being tightly hugged. He stiffened at first, being unused to kind physical contact as he was, but the familiarity of the other boy made him slowly relax and lean into the embrace.

"I know I'm probably not the person you want or need to hear this from," Iida murmured, "but your sexuality is a part of you. It will never make you worth less than anyone else. You're a good person, and a good friend, and no-one deserves to be treated like that." Todoroki sucked in another breath and nodded, letting himself press his face into Iida's shoulder for a moment. Iida finally released him, smiling kindly. Todoroki felt warmth burst to life in his chest, and not for the first time, he was glad, more than anything, that Midoriya had dragged him out of his shell and opened up his group of friends to him.

"Thank you, Iida." He murmured. "I…" he hesitated, "people don't often say that to me." Iida winced slightly.

"Well, if you need to hear it more often, I'm always here." Iida said. Todoroki smiled at that, ducking his head in thanks again. They fell into step beside one another again, enjoying companionable silence for a moment. "I was going to say," Iida spoke up after a few moments, smiling slightly, "I feel like we have been friends long enough at this point. If you wish to call me Tenya, you may."

Todoroki smiled again. "I'd like that, though I must insist in return that you call me Shouto."

Iida – no, _Tenya_ – smiled. "Alright, Shouto."

* * *

Todoroki had hoped that after what he said to Mineta, in addition to how widely the other boy had been censured by their class, that the other would have realised that no-one wanted to hear his opinion. He would have hoped, that after everything that had happened, Mineta would have given up, and stopped attacking people like Kirishima. Todoroki had thick skin; he'd endured years of insults from his father, but Kirishima undoubtedly came from a loving family, and was always surrounded by kind, caring friends (with the exception of Bakugou's naturally prickly nature). He wasn't as used to it.

So, when he had insults and slurs thrown so directly at him, he didn't handle them with as much poise, or as with as much practiced apathy as Todoroki could, and when Mineta turned his vitriol on Kirishima the next day, tone harsh and vicious and words intended to cut deep, it didn't end well.

"IF YOU KEEP FUCKING TALKING, I'M GOING TO RIP YOUR GODDAMN HEAD OFF, YOU SHITTY JACKASS!" Bakugou yelled, straining against the hold that Midoriya and Shouji had on him, wriggling madly and practically spitting with rage. Mina and Uraraka had flocked over to Kirishima's side, where the redhead had been reduced to tears by the hateful things Mineta had spat at him. Todoroki felt frozen, and he knew the look on his face was ugly and twisted. Iida had a hand on his arm, comforting and calming.

"Bakugou! Please calm down!" Yaoyorozu begged, hands waving in a placating manner, her efforts completely wasted in the face of Bakugou's sheer, intense rage.

"THE FUCK I WILL!" he yelled. "FUCKING LET ME GO AND I'LL FUCKING SHOW YOU, DICKWAD!" He continued to struggle angrily. Shouji and Midoriya exchanged a look, faces tense and worried. As strong as the both of them were, none of them had ever seen Bakugou that angry before. He was positively _seething_, and Todoroki couldn't blame him. The things Mineta had said to him just the day before paled in comparison to the words he had just unleashed on Kirishima. It was making his blood boil, and for once, he thought Bakugou's anger was completely justifiable.

Mineta was cowering, clearly not expecting to get so much anger from Bakugou. Todoroki swallowed his own fury and unclenched his fists. Iida seemed to be a little relieved when he saw that, and Todoroki ran a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath and sitting back down.

"Kacchan, please calm down-" Midoriya begged, trying to push Bakugou back a little.

"SHUT UP, SHITTY DEKU!" He screamed, struggling even harder to escape the shorter boy's hold. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, DUMBASS RAT BASTARD!" Shouji flinched back a bit at the volume, but didn't slacken his hold on Bakugou's arm. From the corner of the room, Kirishima sniffled and rubbed at his face, eyes red and bottom lip still quivering slightly.

"Bakugou…" Kirishima murmured. "Don't…it's okay…" Bakugou didn't take heed of the redhead's words, though, still swearing and spitting at Mineta. Todoroki's eyes were drawn away from the argument, though, when the door slid open silently. Aizawa surveyed the scene without a word, taking in Bakugou's anger, Kirishima's tears and Mineta's fearful cowering. He turned to Iida, who had calmed down a little.

"What is going on here?" he drawled, bringing the whole room to a standstill with his voice alone. Even Bakugou stiffened, his struggling ceasing. Todoroki saw Midoriya and Shouji relax a little. Mineta looked at Aizawa like he was a ray of hope, but their teacher just stared coldly back at him, eyes shifting meaningfully to Kirishima's tearful face.

Jirou was the first one to speak up. "Mineta was using homophobic slurs against Kirishima, and Bakugou was retaliating, sensei." Aizawa hummed carefully, eying them all.

"Everyone but Bakugou and Kirishima, get back to your seats. You two, meet me outside." Bakugou immediately started to struggle again swearing.

"ARE YOU NOT EVEN GONNA FUCKING PUNISH THAT ASSHOLE? WHAT THE FUCK?" He screeched. Aizawa eyed him cooly.

"I will be speaking to Mineta after class." Aizawa said simply. "For now, Bakugou, Kirishima, step outside." Bakugou looked ready to explode, until Kirishima stepped to his side and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Bakugou, it's okay." He murmured, eyes still red and breaths catching a little. Bakugou turned his gaze from Mineta to Kirishima, and hesitated.

"He…"

"Mr Aizawa will deal with it." Kirishima muttered, squeezing his shoulder. "It's okay."

Bakugou deflated, anger seeping out. The sharp look in his eyes remained, but he stopped his furious thrashing and spitting.

"No, it fucking isn't." Bakugou muttered. "It's not fucking okay." Kirishima's eyes were wide, vulnerable, and Bakugou seemed to notice that. He threw one final, vicious look at Mineta, who cowered back again, and took Kirishima's arm (surprisingly gently) and pulled him out of the classroom.

Mineta audibly huffed, but quickly flinched again when Aizawa turned an unforgiving look on him, scurrying back to his desk. Aizawa looked at them all, quelling any ideas that they might have had about talking.

"I want you all studying, _silently_, until I get back. If I hear a word out of anyone, they're getting expelled." With that sentence hanging in the air, Aizawa marched out the door, shutting it firmly behind him.

* * *

Bakugou took a deep breath, choosing to properly suppress his anger for once. He normally didn't try to hide his emotions in any capacity, but Kirishima was standing right next to him, choking back more tears, and he knew that getting angry would hardly make the redhead feel better. His hand was still resting on Kirishima's arm, but he didn't want to remove it – his friend took comfort in physical contact, and though that normally wasn't Bakugou's cup of tea, he knew that his own preferences weren't what was most important right now.

He could feel Kirishima looking at him, and could see the other biting his lip in his peripheral vision. Swallowing, he looked at the redhead.

"Are…you feeling okay?" he asked gruffly. Kirishima gave a little start, looking over at him with those wide red eyes. Bakugou could feel his cheeks reddening. Kirishima gently reached out and wrapped a hand around Bakugou's own, where he still had Kirishima's wrist in his grip.

"I'm alright." He murmured. "You really didn't have to get so angry." Bakugou scowled, gently pulling his hand out of Kirishima's grip.

"Yes, I fucking did." He groused. "That little shit is long overdue a punch in the face."

"But you still shouldn't have acted like that, I mean, it's not worth it-"

"The _fuck?_ Not _worth it?_" he snapped, aggression flaring. "What the fuck makes you think that?"

Kirishima hesitated, looking unsure of whether or not to continue. "I just…well, I'm not worth all that trouble, is all. I don't like Mineta, but I don't want you to get in trouble over me, you shouldn't have made such a scene on my behalf."

Bakugou went still, fixing a glare at Kirishima that made the other shift away a little. Cursing internally, he toned down the expression, but stepped forwards, reaching out to grab Kirishima by the tie and haul him closer.

"I don't know how many times I'll need to drill this into your skull, Shitty Hair, but you are _worth the fucking trouble_, okay? That shithead has no right to treat you like he has been, alright, and I'll happily fucking smash his face in if it makes him stop treating you like that." Kirishima stared at him, and for a moment the air between them was so quiet that Bakugou could hear the redhead's breath stuttering. Bakugou tightened his grip on Kirishima's tie, and he swore he felt his heart stutter to a stop when Kirishima's gaze slid down his face, so it was no longer resting on his eyes, but rather his mouth.

Bakugou stifled a gasp as he let his own eyes drift to Kirishima's lips. There was a moment of tense, complete silence, and Bakugou felt his head spin as, for a second, they both seemed to lean in-

The door slid open behind them, and Bakugou released Kirishima's tie, stepping backwards and averting his gaze. He heard Kirishima exhale heavily as they both turned to Aizawa. Bakugou's expression shifted back into its classic glare. Aizawa's gaze flickered between the two of them, but he thankfully didn't comment on whatever he had seen when he'd come out of the classroom.

Bakugou scowled. "So, are you gonna fucking punish that purple asshole or not?"

"Like I said, I will be discussing things with Mineta after lessons today." Aizawa drawled. "As for now, I need to deal with both of you." Bakugou snarled again, and Kirishima ducked his head. "Before you start feeling worried or guilty, Kirishima, you've done absolutely nothing wrong." Kirishima looked up, worry slowly vanishing from his face. Aizawa rolled his shoulders back. "I won't hesitate to say that his behaviour both this morning and in the last few weeks has been unacceptable. You've been the subject of unwarranted and incredibly unpleasant prejudice. Mineta is the one in the wrong here." His expression softened marginally. "If you want to go back to the dorms and take a breather, the teachers will understand."

Kirishima blinked in surprise, ducking his head a little. "It's fine, I can still do classes…"

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. "If you're just saying that to keep face, Kirishima, I'll send you back and I won't give you the choice. It's fine to be upset by things like this, you know." Kirishima hesitated, and met Bakugou's eyes.

"I…" he trailed off, "…I'd like to go back to the dorms, please." Kirishima's voice was barely more than a whisper by the end, but Aizawa didn't comment on it, just nodding silently.

"Very well. You are free to go. I'll alert the rest of your teachers today that you'll be absent."

Kirishima nodded, looking relieved and grateful, and shot a hesitant look at Bakugou. Aizawa caught it, and arched an eyebrow. "I'm not going to expel Bakugou, Kirishima. Go back to the dorms, I'm sure you'll see each other later." Kirishima jumped a little, but nodded, smiling bashfully and shooting an unidentifiable look at Bakugou before scurrying down the corridor and out of sight. Bakugou scowled, feeling disgruntled now that the redhead had left his side. He felt Aizawa's gaze on him, and reluctantly met it.

"I won't hesitate to say that your behaviour in there was disappointing to me." Bakugou's scowl deepened, forcefully repressing the burst of shame that rose to life inside him. He had been working on managing his anger a lot more recently, and the Aizawa-mandated therapy sessions he had been sent to had been a big part of that. It had been working, too, to an extent. Bakugou would never be the happy-go-lucky type of person like Kirishima, but he had been improving. To his teacher, today must have looked like him taking ten steps back. Bakugou stuffed his hands into his pockets, averting his gaze as Aizawa continued.

"You should _not_ be overreacting so much to provocations like this. I understand that you're a teenager, and your impulse control is at an all-time low right now, but you are also a hero in training, and I don't think I need to tell you that this behaviour is not befitting of someone aiming to be a protector of society in the future." Bakugou struggled not to cower backwards at those words. There was a long moment of silence, before he heard Aizawa exhale. "That being said, I do understand that Mineta's words were likely very unpleasant and derogatory, and I will not be punishing you for standing up against prejudice."

Bakugou looked up. Aizawa looked as inscrutable as ever, but there was a gleaming edge to his gaze. "Though everyone else seemed too shocked, you stood up for your friend, and in doing so, acted as a great source of reassurance for Kirishima, I'm sure." Bakugou shuffled his feet. "Nonetheless, as well-meaning as your actions might have been, you did act in an incredibly aggressive manner towards a fellow student. I know it must be hard to hear things like that, but punishment is still in order."

Bakugou growled. "Don't fucking act like you have any idea what I'm feeling. Just fucking tell me what my punishment is and get it done with."

Aizawa eyed him levelly. "You'll be serving one afternoon of in-class detention for your part in this affair. I expect you at the classroom door after class tomorrow. You'll be here for two hours." Bakugou scowled again, and there was silence again for a moment. "Believe me, Bakugou, I can understand why you reacted to Mineta's words with so much hostility, but this is school policy."

"What the fuck would you know?" Bakugou spat, grinding his teeth together. Aizawa didn't look angry or annoyed.

"A fair amount, given that I've been alive twice as long as you have." Aizawa said simply. "Now, would you like to return to the classroom or go to the dorms with Kirishima?" Bakugou squinted at him.

"The fuck are you giving me the option?" he spat. Aizawa gave him a look.

"Because I don't want my lessons to be interrupted any more than they already have been." He said simply. "If you don't think you can keep your rage under control, then I'm sending you back." Bakugou grumbled under his breath, but he could understand his teacher's reasoning.

As much as he wanted to pummel Mineta until he was little more than a dark stain on the sidewalk, he also hadn't gotten the position of 3rd in the class through slacking off, and he was hardly going to let fucking Deku or Icyhot overtake him.

"I'll go back to class." He growled. Aizawa watched him for a moment, scrutinising him as if to guess whether or not he was going to become violent again, before inclining his head back to the classroom door. Scowl back in place and fists shoved in his pockets, Bakugou stalked back inside.

* * *

Todoroki normally had the social skills of a rather awkward lobster, but even he could pick up on the tense atmosphere at lunch. Midoriya had shuffled over to the opposite side of the table rather than to his usual spot on Todoroki's right, and Uraraka had been wedged up against his side for the entire break. Iida had also broken from the norm to sit next to Shouto when Midoriya had left the seat empty.

They had discussed the incident from this morning already, with everyone venting their respective bouts of irritation with it while Todoroki sat quietly and listened. Tenya had thrown him more than one careful, concerned look. He'd been able to wave them off with a small, tight smile, but he could tell that his friend was still concerned. Todoroki prodded at the soba on his plate, eying Midoriya. The other boy had seemed in good spirits earlier (once he had finished expressing his own, watered down outrage about the incident with Mineta) but a glance at Todoroki had soured the smile on his face and dulled the vibrant colour of his eyes.

It was making Todoroki lose his appetite; he had no idea what he might have done to offend or upset Midoriya, and he sincerely wanted to know. The mystery of the whole situation was driving him mad. Not knowing was worse than being painstakingly aware of whatever misstep he had made, simply because he had no idea how to fix things. He didn't want to broach the topic here and now, not with Iida, Tsuyu and Uraraka within earshot, but he desperately wanted to know what was wrong.

He was poking at the noodles on his plate, debating how he could best talk to Midoriya, when a loud voice behind him drew his attention.

"Oi, fuckface." Todoroki sighed quietly, turning to face Bakugou with a raised eyebrow.

"Hello, Bakugou." He said, ignoring the other's rude greeting. "Did you get punished by Aizawa?" the blond had re-entered the classroom after the incident with Kirishima scowling unhappily, but had refused thus far to tell anyone what his punishment was, or even if he was getting punished at all. Bakugou scowled at the reminder, lifting a leg to gently kick at the side of Todoroki's chair.

"Two hours of fucking in-class detention." He grumbled. "He'd better give the grape shit something worse."

"I'm sure he will." Todoroki said as he leaned down and wrapped a hand around Bakugou's ankle, shoving his leg back to stop his kicking. "Mineta started it, after all." Bakugou scowled at him for grabbing his ankle, but relented and crossed his arms angrily instead.

"If that bastard does anything else, I'm gonna fucking throw him out of this school myself." Bakugou growled, shooting a meaningful look at Todoroki. He inclined his head slightly, as if to say _if you're willing to, so am I_. It seemed to sate Bakugou, and some of the aggression faded from his features. "You better come bring me fucking food while I'm stuck in class tomorrow, asshole." Todoroki rolled his eyes. He'd made the mistake of letting slip to Bakugou that he had stolen one of his dad's credit cards, and the other had been forcing him to buy him food ever since.

"Well? You wanna piss him off, don't you?" Bakugou had snarled when Todoroki had asked why exactly he was being forced into buying food. The other had a point, so Todoroki had just relented and bought him snacks when the other had asked.

He picked up on the alternate meaning in Bakugou's words, though. The blond wanted to plan for the next step in their 'fuck up mineta' plan, which, after everything that had happened in the last two days, Todoroki was more than keen to help with.

"Yeah, fine." He said, turning back to his noodles. "But I'm not bringing you that super spicy shit you always eat." Bakugou growled at him, but didn't retaliate. It was strange, how much more comfortable Todoroki had become in the other's presence. He could tell Bakugou was more comfortable around him, too, though the explosive teen would hardly admit it.

"Tch, whatever, dickhead." He muttered, elbowing his shoulder gently before turning on his heel and marching off. "Don't fucking skip out on me, asshole." He said over his shoulder, and though he spat the words, they lacked the usual bite. Todoroki rolled his eyes and didn't bother to respond. He lifted his eyes from his soba to see the others looking at him. Iida's gaze was curious but unconcerned, Uraraka looked a little tense, and averted his eyes when he looked at her, and Midoriya…

Midoriya's expression looked odd and closed off, like he was trying to hide whatever thoughts were running through his head at the time. Todoroki blinked, and was about to ask what seemed to be bothering him so much, when Midoriya lowered his head and stood up from his seat, swinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Sorry, I, uhh…" Midoriya hesitated, drumming his fingers on the strap of his bag, "I have to go do something. I'll see you guys later." Todoroki barely had time to breathe before Midoriya was gone, practically fleeing across the cafeteria. Iida blinked in shock, looking at Uraraka, who was looking at Midoriya's back with concern written all over her features. She bit her lip, and glanced at Todoroki and Iida.

"…I'm gotta go talk to him about something." She said, shooting them a smile. "I'll talk to you two in class?" she too was gone before Todoroki could react. He blinked in alarm, lowering the hand that had been gripping his chopsticks as Iida made a confused sound in the back of his throat.

"What was that about?" Iida said, voicing Todoroki's own confusion. Todoroki just shook his head, ignoring the churning in his stomach.

"No clue." He murmured.

* * *

Kaminari glanced to the side curiously as Mina tapped on his shoulder. He barely had time to look up before his pink-skinned friend was grinning mischievously and slipping away. He felt his stomach flutter with excitement, and he internally thanked Mina's unusual tact as he smiled at Shinsou, who had ducked in the Class 1-A door and sidled over to his desk.

"Hey!" he greeted the brainwasher cheerfully, straightening up and hoping that the heat in his cheeks wasn't too obvious a blush. Shinsou smiled, and though it wasn't too large, it was genuine to the core, and he felt his stomach flutter again. Kaminari tried to quell his visible excitement. He'd only really spoken properly to the General Studies student a few times, but he liked him, and he didn't think he'd been imagining the cautious chemistry between them the last time they'd spoken.

Shinsou sat on the edge of his desk, smirking at Kaminari and the stack of English homework spread on the desk below him. He and Mina had stayed behind in class to go over some of the coursework with Present Mic, and arrange for different exams for Kaminari. He'd been improving with his dyslexia recently; since he'd told Aizawa about it, his teacher had altered the layout of his exams so they were based more on aural delivery, rather than forcing him to read through difficult content. Though, through different reading exercises, he had improved, he still preferred to do spoken exams. Luckily, Present Mic had been just as accommodating, which had lifted a huge weight off Kaminari's shoulders.

"Yikes." Shinsou murmured, eying the stack of papers. "I gotta say, English is not my strong suit for good reason." Kaminari smiled, folding his arms and grinning happily.

"Well, I can tutor you if need be." He said, "I'm first in the class." Shinsou smirked, leaning forwards a little, so that Kaminari could just feel the warm brush of his breath on his face. His heart stuttered.

"Damn, how'd you get so good?" he asked, gaze suggestive. Kaminari flushed.

"Well, my mother is half-American, so I grew up with it, really."

"I must say, I'm impressed." Shinsou said, voice low enough that it made something deep inside Kaminari stir and heat. "I might have to take you up on that offer of tutoring." The other boy leaned back a little, which gave Kaminari's struggling heart a break.

"So, what brings you to Class 1-A this fine afternoon?" Kaminari asked, fixing his gaze on Shinsou's deep purple eyes. He kept his face carefully blank, trying not to look too overwhelmed and dreamy while he admired the lilac colours of Shinsou's eyes and hair. Shinsou abruptly looked just a little bit cowed, and the other boy averted his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath.

"I was just going to mention, well, they just opened a new cat café downtown." He said. "I asked Ashido, and she said that you rather like animals, so I was wondering if you'd want to come check it out with me."

Kaminari blinked, before he felt a bright flush spread to his cheeks.

"You…oh!" he felt warmth burst to life in his chest. "You…asked Ashido about me?"

Shinsou actually looked a little flustered then, averting his eyes as the barest tinge of red touched his cheeks. Kaminari felt hope surge to life in his chest. "So, is this…like…a date?"

Shinsou was definitely blushing now, but he met Kaminari's eyes, with a fiery conviction deep in his own gaze. "Well, yes. I take my cat cafés very seriously. I wouldn't ask just anyone to come to one with me."

Kaminari blushed. As much as he liked to flirt, he wasn't entirely used to having his interests reciprocated, much less having people approach him first. He had been on dates before, certainly, but even though he was very much so interested in them, he was yet to actually go on one with a boy. Having someone like Shinsou, who came off as intelligent, sensible and talented, ask him out was definitely new to him. He could see the underlying anxiety in Shinsou's frame, and smiled.

"Well, since it's definitely a date, I'd love to." Kaminari said softly. The nervousness plaguing the other boy melted away, and the smile on his face widened and became a little gentler.

"In that case, does next Saturday work for you?" Shinsou tapped the English papers. "I doubt you'll need to study, from what I've seen."

"Well, English is the only subject I'm good at, but I can definitely make that work." Shinsou smirked again, leaning forwards once more.

"That tutoring arrangement of ours can always be mutual, you know." Shinsou murmured, voice tantalisingly low again. Kaminari fought down a pleased shudder, and fought a delighted grin when he saw Mina peeking in the window of the classroom, grinning encouragingly at him.

"Sounds good to me." He murmured, fiddling with his English papers. "So, I'll see you on Saturday, then?" Shinsou smiled, nodding.

"See you then." He murmured in agreement. Kaminari took a step towards the door, hesitated, and then spun to face Shinsou again, wicked grin on his face. The brainwasher didn't have time to raise an eyebrow before Kaminari threaded his hand through the purple hair on the back of his head, tugged him forwards and kissed him on the corner of his mouth. He heard an odd, strangled noise escape Shinsou's throat and grinned at the bright red flush on the other boy's face when they drew apart. Kaminari hitched his bag up on his shoulder, grinned wickedly and waved.

"See you Saturday!" he said cheerfully, leaving the other boy red and spluttering in shock as he ducked out of the classroom.

Mina was waiting for him, mischievous grin in place, when he waltzed into the hallway, heart hammering and blood thrumming happily. She waggled her eyebrows at him. He shook his head at her even as she giggled in delight.

"Oh Kami, why didn't you tell me you liked guys? There are so many old friends of mine I could have set you up with." She said cheerfully. Kaminari blushed, shrugging.

"I don't know, I guess it never really came up? And when I actually started to think about it was when everything happened to Kiri…it just felt wrong to try and steal his thunder, ya know?" he said. Mina elbowed him in the ribs, then threaded her own arm in his.

"You're too considerate, you moron." Mina said. He smiled as she squeezed his arm comfortingly, gently elbowing her in return as they walked back across the grounds to the dorms. He barely had a minute to enjoy the quiet walk with his friend when she spoke up again. "So…Shinsou, huh?"

Kaminari immediately flushed, elbowing her a little harder. She cackled with laughter at that. "Oh, I'm not judging! Insomniac sass master type, I see. Oddly specific, but you two are cute." She winked at him. "I saw that near-kiss, mister! I think you should have gone right for it, though. Don't try to lie and tell me he wouldn't have been into it." he rolled his eyes even as his stomach squirmed happily. She just grinned at him as they climbed the steps to the dorms, only for the expression to slip away when they heard raised voices from inside. He recognised one as Mineta's. Cringing pre-emptively, Mina sighed in defeat, reached out, and swung the door open.

"-shouldn't be getting in trouble for this!" Mineta screeched, glaring at an exhausted-looking Kirishima. "He's the screwed up one!" Kaminari looked at his red-headed friend, and felt his stomach plunge to the floor. It was heartbreaking enough to see sadness and hurt on his face, but the deadened look he had right now was even worse. If he knew one thing about Kiri, it was that the other never gave up, but right now, he looked downright defeated. The happy, warm feeling in Kaminari's gut soured, and he felt anger seep through him.

"I can't believe you haven't realised that no-one here agrees with you, yet." Mina spat at Mineta as she crossed the room to slot herself in the space at Kirishima's side, the other of which was occupied by a frowning Sero. Most of their class seemed to be assembled in the common room, all displaying varying degrees of expressed irritation or outrage.

Mineta glared at her. "I still can't understand why you're taking his side. I thought you were actually a decent girl, Mina." Mina scowled at him.

"Fuck off, you miserable piece of shit." She spat. "Even if you weren't a homophobic piece of shit, did you honestly believe that any girls in our class were gonna fall over ourselves to date you? If even the straight girls in our class are disgusted by you, what honestly makes you think that the gay guys would be interested?" she clenched her fists. "Don't think so highly of yourself."

Kaminari felt his anger bubbling up, and he stepped out of the entryway, frowning at the small boy. "Mineta, for the last time, other peoples' sexualities are none of your business. So what if he's gay? A person who stares at half-naked people without their consent is a creep, regardless of their gender or orientation. It's simple as that." He moved to walk past the boy. "You need to get over it."

Mineta scowled. "I can't believe he's manipulated even you into being on his side. What about if he stared at you? Huh? We should all be considering ourselves lucky that he's the only fag in our class."

Kaminari paused as the slur registered, not only with him, but with the rest of his class, too. He could hear Iida's characteristic lecturing over the general chaos, and reflected briefly that it was a good thing that Bakugou was suspiciously absent, otherwise they all would have been deafened by round 2 of his incessant screaming.

"He isn't." he murmured, unsurprised when no-one else seemed to hear his words. He looked over at Kirishima, whom Mina and Sero seemed to be trying to gently pull away from the chaos that enveloped the common room. The redhead looked absolutely miserable, and Kaminari felt familiar, protective rage surge up inside. Kirishima was one of his best friends, and an all-around incredible person. He deserved the world, yet even with a friend on either side, he looked like he felt incredibly alone.

Turning to face Mineta again, Kaminari sucked in a breath, dredging up his courage.

_I'm going on a date with Shinsou next week_. He thought, trying to psych himself up. The whole drama between Bakugou and Kirishima right now was because of complicated personal feelings, he was certain, rather than Kirishima's identity. He would retain his closest friends, make Kirishima feel a hell of a lot better, and maybe shut Mineta up for an hour or so.

Worth it.

"Mineta!" he called out, glad that the noise had started to die down a little. He saw several heads turn towards him, before quiet swamped them all and Mineta's beady-eyed gaze turned to him. "Bull. Shit." He saw confusion on some faces before he elaborated. "Bull_shit_, Kirishima is the only LGBT person here. Even statistically speaking, that's impossible, even if there weren't clearly more than one."

Mineta's eyes narrowed, and Kaminari saw confusion, as well as a small measure of hope burgeoning on Kirishima's face. "What the hell do you mean?" Mineta spat.

"Well," Kaminari said, stooping down slightly to reach the other's level, "given that you have one of the world's most shamelessly bisexual people right fucking here," he jabbed a thumb at himself, ignoring the gasps of shock and murmuring that broke out, "Kiri's very obviously not the only one."

He saw Mineta's face slacken in shock, and then screw itself back up into a tight mess as understanding swept over him.

"You've got to be kidding me." He said, eying Kaminari with unveiled disgust. Kaminari shook his head, turning on his heel smoothly and approaching Kirishima. He grabbed his friend's arm and began escorting him towards the stairs up to their rooms.

"Nope! I'm bi, bi, bi, til the day I fucking die, Mineta, and you can rest easy knowing that not only am I bi-_fucking_-sexual, but I scored a date, with a guy, next week. Considering that you've scored zero dates thus far at UA, well," he shot a look over his shoulder at the incensed Mineta and the rest of his surprised classmates, "I think that's a point in my favour, not yours."

With that closing sentence, he hauled Kirishima up the stairs and away from the others. The cacophony of noise behind him became muffled as they climbed higher, before he felt Kirishima pull out of his grasp, and Kaminari paused, turning to face him. Kirishima's expression was open and deeply touched, and Kaminari could see tears gathering in his eyes.

"Really?" the redhead murmured. Kaminari swallowed, but nodded. He felt a pair of warms arms encircle him, and he relaxed into the tight hug. "Kami…"

"I didn't want you to feel alone when you aren't." he murmured. "And I'm not going to let Mineta isolate you anymore." Kirishima sucked in a shaky breath, nodding against Kaminari's shoulder. They drew apart, Kirishima wiping his eyes and smiling wetly.

"Thank you." He said, following as Kaminari kept walking. "So…who's your date?"

Kaminari groaned, ignoring his friend's cheery laughter. "You and Mina are insufferable." At Kirishima's innocent look, he relented. "Shinsou."

"Ohhh," Kirishima waggled his eyebrows, "so you're into the brooding, mysterious types, huh?"

"Kiri!"

* * *

Todoroki rolled his eyes as Bakugou scowled at Aizawa, slumping into his chair in the classroom. Though everyone else had emptied out, Bakugou was stuck behind to do his two hours in-class detention. Aizawa pulled out a large stack of what Todoroki assumed were papers to grade, shot Todoroki a warning look that told him he would have to get out soon.

"You didn't even bring any food, you useless fuck." Bakugou muttered in discontent, eying Todoroki angrily. Todoroki sighed.

"Well, Uraraka was planning to get a group together to go to McDonalds, so I was going to ask if you wanted anything from there." He explained. Bakugou screwed up his face but blessedly didn't get angry.

"Ugh, like I wanna eat that shit." He said, glowering. There was a moment of silence where Todoroki just shot him an unimpressed look, before Bakugou relented, sighing. "Buy me one of those frozen fucking drinks or whatever." Todoroki nodded.

"Alright," he said, hitching his bag up his shoulder as he left the classroom. "Enjoy your detention."

"Fuck off!" he heard Bakugou yell from inside. Todoroki fought down a smile as he kept walking, but let it grow when he saw his friends waiting. Midoriya, Uraraka, Momo, Mina and Kirishima were standing outside the building, milling around and waiting to leave. Uraraka and Momo smiled brightly at him when he approached, as did Kirishima, but Midoriya's expression was still somewhat strained. Todoroki felt his stomach sink a little. He still had no clue why Midoriya had been acting so strange recently. He only wished that he knew what he himself had done to upset the other. His feelings for his best friend went far beyond the platonic, so it hurt to know that Midoriya could be upset because of him.

"Okay, is that everyone?" Momo asked, peering around and, apparently satisfied, nodded and turned to go. "Alright, let's go, everyone." Todoroki glanced hesitantly at Midoriya, who seemed to be whispering furiously to Uraraka again, and sped up to talk to Momo. If Midoriya really didn't want to talk to him, he was hardly going to force his presence on him.

Momo was happy to see him, though, and they struck up a conversation about coursework as they walked. Todoroki was surprised at how quickly they arrived at McDonalds. Their UA uniforms and familiar faces drew a few curious looks, and Todoroki ducked his head when he saw a few teenagers looking at him with thinly veiled excitement. Momo giggled a little under her breath, shooting him a sympathetic look as she gracefully swept over to order. Hunching his shoulders a little self-consciously, Todoroki followed, murmuring his order to the star-struck server and stepping away as quickly as he could.

He watched the others flit by and order. Mina bounced up to the register happily to order as Midoriya finally peeled away from Uraraka's side and approached him. He sighed in relief when he saw a girl, looking a little discouraged, retreating when she spotted Midoriya sliding up to his side. Midoriya smiled at him, though there was a tired quality to the expression. Todoroki felt his stomach flip uncomfortably.

"Hey." He said quietly. Midoriya drummed his fingers against his leg, gaze flickering over to the orders screen, waiting for his own food to be ready.

"How's your day been?" Midoriya asked quietly. Todoroki shrugged.

"Not bad." He murmured, hesitating for a moment. "Are you pissed at me?" he asked. Midoriya jumped as though he'd just been shocked by Kaminari.

"What? No!?" he exclaimed, cheeks reddening when his words drew attention from the people gathered around them. He lowered his voice. "Of course not! Why would you think that?"

Todoroki frowned. "Midoriya…" he trailed off, sighing, "you've been avoiding me all day." Midoriya went quiet, biting his lip and averting his gaze. "Did…did I do something wrong?"

"No!" Midoriya insisted. "Of course not. You haven't done anything. I just…" he hesitated, "I just want you to have good relationships with certain people, and I don't know that me being around would help that, necessarily." Todoroki stared at him, baffled.

"What do you mean…?" he trailed off, attention drawn elsewhere when he heard his order number called. Biting his lip, he moved over to collect it, unsure of how to continue the conversation. He opened his mouth, considering how to address what Midoriya had just said to him, when he heard a shriek from behind him.

"Oh, you pervert, get away!"

Todoroki spun around, and felt a now-familiar fury surge up inside when he saw Mina, looking upset and horrified, backing away from the short figure of Mineta. He felt a scowl stretch across his face as he stepped forwards, ready to bodily haul Mineta out of the restaurant if necessary. Mina looked disgusted, and he could tell by the way she tugged her school skirt down self-consciously that Mineta had probably tried to either look up her skirt, or touch her. Todoroki glared down at Mineta. What the slimy little bastard was doing here, he didn't exactly know.

Uraraka took Mina by the arm, pulling her backwards. "What the hell, Mineta? What is wrong with you?" she turned to the pink-skinned girl. "What did he do?" Mina huffed, glaring at the small boy, who was being glared down not only by Todoroki, but also by Midoriya and Momo. Though Kirishima also looked annoyed, he was hanging back a bit, probably so as to not have Mineta's anger and vitriol aimed at him again. Mineta scoffed.

"Tch, it's your fault anyway." He said. "You shouldn't wear your skirt so short if you don't want people to pay attention." Mina reeled back in shock, looking disgusted and hurt as she took a step back. Todoroki considered the small boy in front of him, and then eyed the frozen drink in his hand, the one he'd just bought for Bakugou.

It was for the greater good.

Todoroki pulled the plastic lid off the drink, casually tossed it in the bin next to him, and emptied the whole thing over Mineta's head. Mina's jaw dropped to the floor, and he heard Midoriya gasp behind him. Uraraka's eyebrows had travelled up to meet her hairline, and Momo had her hands clasped over her mouth in shock. Even Kirishima, half hidden behind one of the automatic ordering machines, looked stunned.

Mineta shrieked in shock as Todoroki dumped the now-empty cup in the bin, the sticky, cold slush dripping down his uniform.

"Todoroki…" Midoriya murmured, sounding shocked and a little breathless. Todoroki shook his head at the short boy, turning to Mina.

"You wanna head back to the dorms?" he asked. Blinking in shock, but also looking increasingly delighted, Mina looked at him and grinned, though she looked a little shaky still.

"I'd love to, Todoroki." She said. Nodding, Todoroki took her arm and led her outside, ignoring the outraged shouting behind him.

* * *

"Where the fuck's my drink, asshole?" Bakugou barked from his seat on the steps of the 1-A dorms as Todoroki approached. He raised an eyebrow at the red-and-white-haired teen, who was walking alongside Mina. Bakugou saw his friend squeeze Todoroki's arm before slipping past Bakugou and into the dorms.

"Long story." Todoroki said. Bakugou raised an eyebrow.

"Fucking tell it." he said. Todoroki sighed, but shrugged.

"Mineta showed up at McDonalds too." He said. "And decided to stick his hand up Mina's skirt." Bakugou went stiff, anger flooding through him as he leapt to his feet.

"What the fuck?" he spat, burning with rage. "Where is that little shit? I'm gonna punch him in his dumbass face-" Todoroki held a hand up to make him pause, and Bakugou scowled but fell silent.

"I dumped your drink on his head, so, sorry, I'll buy you another if you really want one, but I thought it was justified." Bakugou just nodded aggressively.

"Fucking _good_." He shook his head. "Listen, Todoroki…" the other boy raised an eyebrow, and Bakugou winced internally at the fact that he had accidentally dropped his usual, abusive nicknames. "That little rat bastard has gone and attacked three of my closest fucking friends now, and I'm just about sick of it." he was fuming, and he knew Todoroki could see it. "He went off at Kaminari for being bi, and fucking assaulted Mina. Those two are some of my best friends, and I won't fucking tolerate that shit. And then Kirishima…"

"Who you love." Todoroki murmured. Bakugou shot him a sharp look, but the other didn't look like he was about to throw criticism or make fun of him. He had a softened, understanding look on his face. Bakugou buried his curses. He had seen how Todoroki mooned over Deku; evidently, they were in the same boat. He sighed, choosing to neither confirm nor deny the other's words.

"Point is, he's gone after people I actually fucking care about, and I won't tolerate that bullshit." He growled. "I'm sick of him. I want him _gone_."

Todoroki smiled, and Bakugou felt satisfaction rise inside him. A smile didn't have to be kind or warm to be brutally reassuring. Todoroki's grin was sharp and cruel.

"Well, when you have a pest, you have to exterminate it eventually." He said. "Mineta's only gotten away with everything for so long because he mostly does it out of sight of the teachers."

"So, we bring it to their attention." Bakugou said. "And we're gonna need more than just posters this time. We're gonna have to fucking…FBI this shit." Todoroki nodded, and Bakugou could tell that, for once, they were on the exact same wavelength.

"Pictures, videos, statements from people in class…" Todoroki trailed off, eyes alight with wicked glee. "Let's fucking axe this little shit."

* * *

It was a lot of work, and by the time Sunday rolled around, Todoroki was fairly certain both he and Bakugou looked like they'd gone completely insane.

They spent the remainder of Friday, and all of Saturday and Sunday ducking through bushes to capture pictures of Mineta harassing innocent girls at UA, subtly extracting statements from the girls in their class and others about what he had done, and even finding audio recordings of Mineta's awful remarks about Kirishima, Kaminari and others.

"You two alright?" Kaminari asked. Todoroki blinked blearily. He and Bakugou had ended up sprawled out, exhausted, on the front balcony of the dorms, and they both grunted and looked up at the bubbly blond, who was obviously returning from his date with Shinsou, who was standing by his side, looking amused.

Bakugou grunted incomprehensibly, whilst Todoroki deigned to answer. "Yeah, just…ugh."

"Mood." Todoroki heard Shinsou murmur. Kaminari gently nudged him in the side, but the brainwasher smirked unapologetically. Kaminari cocked his head to the side and pointed at Todoroki's hair.

"How was your date?" Todoroki asked. Shinsou smirked and Kaminari blushed.

"It was great! They had so many cats." Kaminari said, looking delighted. Shinsou raised an eyebrow.

"Given it was a cat café, you would hope so." Shinsou said, tone dry but fond. Kaminari threw him a mock glare. They were almost sickeningly cute together. Todoroki groaned and buried his head in his arms.

"What about you guys? What have you been up to?"

"Just…an extra-curricular project." Todoroki murmured.

"Ohh, nice. Uhh, by the way, you got leaves in your hair, bro." Todoroki sighed, nodding.

"Yeah, I know." He said, knowing full well how defeated he sounded. As much as he wanted Mineta out, the task they'd undertaken was more massive than they'd expected. It was also incredibly depressing, to see how much of a shitty human being he truly was. How someone with his personality and mindset had ever gotten into the hero course was beyond Todoroki. There were countless talented, good people stuck in Gen Ed who didn't get the chance to become heroes, and yet the disrespectful, irritating little grape shit did?

They heard footsteps exiting the dorms, and Todoroki threw a glare at Mineta. He had seen far more of the small boy than he had ever wanted to in the last few days, to the point that even seeing him was aggravating. Mineta looked mildly scared as he skirted around Todoroki's feet to go past them, though the expression immediately morphed into a look of disgust when he saw Kaminari and Shinsou.

"Ugh, so you really weren't lying." Mineta muttered, looking put-off. Shinsou raised an eyebrow, glancing at Kaminari.

"Oh, so _this_ is Mineta." Shinsou said, pressing his side closer to Kaminari as the blond nodded, looking a little irritated. Mineta glared at him.

"Yeah, and?" he said. Shinsou shrugged.

"Nothing." He murmured, before turning to Kaminari, hand resting on the blond's wrist. "I should get going, though. Glad you liked the café." Kaminari smiled at him, blushing again, even as Mineta scoffed in the background. Something in Shinsou's eyes shifted, and he shot Mineta a long, measuring look before he hummed, leant forwards and kissed Kaminari full on the lips. The blond started, jumping a little in surprise before pressing into it. Bakugou grinned savagely as Mineta's jaw dropped in horror, and Todoroki gave a little, uncharacteristic whoop as Shinsou wrapped an arm around Kaminari's waist and drew him in closer.

Bakugou started cackling with laughter as Mineta fled out of the dorms and past the still-entwined couple. Even Todoroki couldn't hide a grin as Shinsou and Kaminari finally drew apart, both of them bright red and pressed tight together. Bakugou shook his head in amusement, clapping sarcastically. Kaminari blushed and threw a fake glare at him, even as Shinsou smirked and ran a hand up and down the small of the blond's back. Kaminari made a small noise of irritation and gently smacked Shinsou on the shoulder.

"If you just kissed me to make a point-" Kaminari started to say, cut off when Shinsou swooped in to capture his mouth in a kiss again.

"Nope." Shinsou said as he pulled away. "Pissing your classmate off was just one of many advantages." Kaminari rolled his eyes, but blushed more anyway. "But you didn't seem to mind." Shinsou said. Kaminari raised his eyebrows challengingly before threading his hands through Shinsou's purple hair and pulling him back in.

Bakugou rolled his eyes, clambering to his feet. "Alright, I'm about done witnessing this lovefest." He said, glancing over at Todoroki. "I reckon we should start finishing up our shit." Todoroki nodded, glancing at Kaminari and Shinsou, who seemed completely lost in one another now, before following Bakugou's lead.

"You've got all the photos, right?" Bakugou said as Todoroki followed him up to the top floor to the other's room. Todoroki nodded.

"Yup. Are you fine to type up what the girls and such have said about him?" Bakugou nodded.

"Yeah." He said. Todoroki gazed curiously around Bakugou's room as he was led inside. Bakugou had been one of the only people to not let everyone else look at his room when they'd first moved into the dorms, so only the Bakusquad really knew what it looked like. Bakugou scowled when he noticed Todoroki's wandering attention. "Stop fucking gawking. Drop your shit at the door and let's fucking do this."

Todoroki grinned, sitting on the floor across from Bakugou as they dumped the contents of their bags over the floor and getting to work.

It was gruelling.

Bakugou was yawning at 9pm, by the time Todoroki had finished printing out and putting all of the photographs in order. By 10pm, Bakugou had finished properly writing up all of the statements they'd gotten from the girls both in their class and in others, and Todoroki was blinking hard and rubbing at his eyes to keep the slow lull of fatigue from overtaking him. They exchanged a look at 11pm, both tired and a little high-strung, but determined to finish their project.

Todoroki temporarily abandoned the cramped room at midnight to duck downstairs and make drinks for them both as well as grab some low-quality but high-sugar snacks to keep them going. Bakugou downed a whole black coffee and blitzed through three paragraphs of a short dissertation on how damaging sexual harassment in a school environment could be. Todoroki ate his way through a bag of gummy bears while arranging their stacks of evidence into chronological piles. At 1am, Bakugou was triumphantly printing off the different miniature essays he had written over the course of the weekend. He handed the stack of paper to Todoroki to slip into the organised pile.

Todoroki eyed the stack, nodding as he pulled out the huge, dark brown folder he had bought for this, and gradually began to slide each different file and photo inside, along with small hard drives full of videos and audio recordings. Bakugou nodded at the finished project as Todoroki, with no small amount of difficulty, cut lengths of string to tie the folder shut. Bakugou bit his lip and surveyed the finished project.

"I reckon we should name it." Bakugou said simply. Todoroki hummed, plucking up a thick black marker and considering the front of the folder for a minute before leaning forwards and scrawling a title across the thick surface. Bakugou grinned as he drew backwards, nudging him in an almost encouraging manner. They both looked down at the bulging folder, matching grins on their faces.

**A Recommended Suspect for Immediate Fucking Expulsion: The Purple Rat Bastard**

"Perfect." Bakugou said, smirking. "Now, I think it's about time we get this shit to Aizawa, don't you?"


	5. Step 5: Get Him Expelled and Rejoice

"Alright, let's get this started." Aizawa said as he slid into his seat on the side of the table, Hizashi ducking into his seat on his right and All-Might taking the one on his left, eying the large, brown folder in his hands curiously. Aizawa tilted it so the tall man couldn't read the title, and tried to hide the small smirk on his face. "This is a pretty big folder, and there's a lot to go through."

The table wasn't as full as it normally was, since he had seen no reason to really draw all teachers away from their classes to discuss the incident at hand, so there were only six people in the room other than himself. He could see Midnight arching an eyebrow in curiosity, and Cementoss and Vlad King were exchanging curious looks as they noticed the heavy folder in front of him.

Nedzu, seated at the head of the table, clasped his paws together and eyed Aizawa curiously, "I am interested, Aizawa, as to why you have decided to call this meeting. I assume this is of some importance." Aizawa nodded, as he felt Hizashi squeeze his arm gently as he stood back up.

"It is, yes." He scooped up the folder and tapped the cover with one finger. "I found this folder at my office door this morning when I arrived. It was not there when I left last night. However, considering the nature of some of the contents, and the fact that there are no signs of foul play or breaking and entering, I believe the perpetrators to be students." He drew in a breath. "Rather than the circumstances that brought this to my door, however, I am concerned with the contents."

Nedzu nodded. "I see." He pointed at the folder. "Unless my eyesight is failing me, I believe this folder is titled." Aizawa fought down an amused smile and nodded.

"You're correct, sir. Do excuse the language, but it has been titled; '**A Recommended Suspect for Immediate Fucking Expulsion: The Purple Rat Bastard**'." He saw Midnight, who had been sipping at a glass of water, choke briefly and press a hand delicately to her mouth. All Might's eyes widened comically, and Hizashi laughed shamelessly, though his amusement died down a little when Vlad King shot him a look. Nedzu blinked placidly, looking curious.

"I see. Do elaborate, Aizawa."

Aizawa sighed, undoing the string holding the folder shut and opening it, pulling out piles of documents and photos. "The contents of the folder appear to pertain specifically to one of the students in Class 1-A, Mineta Minoru." He passed a stack of photographs to the left, watching as Hizashi skimmed through them, eyes wide as he passed them on. "Whoever created this appears to have done so with the intent of drawing attention towards the disrespectful behaviour that Mineta has displayed throughout his time at UA."

Nedzu cocked his head to the side. "Disrespectful behaviour?" he inquired. Aizawa kept himself from gritting his teeth in irritation at the reminder.

"Since the beginning of the year, he has consistently verbally and physically harassed the girls in my class, in addition to other students. He shows disrespect to his classmates, and most recently, he has displayed consistently homophobic and prejudiced behaviour towards one student who was recently outed as gay." Aizawa handed All Might a stack of essays that he'd unearthed from the folder. "From what I have heard, he extended that prejudice to another student in class who came out as bisexual a few days ago."

He'd heard that particular tidbit from Hitoshi, actually, when his young protégé had been irritated about his new boyfriend (whose name he still refused to disclose, hilariously, like Aizawa didn't already know that he was dating Kaminari Denki) being targeted by the small boy. Cementoss, who had just been handed the stack of photographs, was shaking his head in horror.

"I have punished him multiple times already, but he is yet to show any signs of remorse or understanding of why his conduct is hurtful." He heard Midnight hum.

"Given your track record with expulsions, Aizawa, I'm a little surprised you haven't expelled him already." Aizawa stiffened. Mineta's homophobic behaviour towards Kirishima had been his tipping point, easily, not least because said topic was a little personal to him.

"I was advised to not make decisions concerning my students that could be interpreted as being made out of personal ideals or factors." He said stiffly, relaxing marginally when he felt Hizashi take his free hand, entwining their fingers. His husband had been given shit in the past for punishing a student for using homophobic language, and Aizawa had hardly wanted to repeat that awful experience. He'd gone to Hizashi about it, and his husband had advised him to wait it out and keep a close eye on the situation.

Nedzu nodded. "That was wise, Aizawa. I do not want to tolerate conservative attacks on this school again. That being said, this seems to me to be a case in which expulsion would have been a reasonable and justifiable decision. His harassment of female students, for one, is a major point of concern." Aizawa nodded.

"I allowed him to stay initially because he showed potential. If he had not, he would have been expelled on day one. I hoped, for a time, that he would grow and mature more as time passed." That very thing had happened to Kaminari before his eyes. The endless flirtation had died down, and though Kaminari had never been anywhere near Mineta's level, the blond had culled his more aggravating habits. "That has not happened yet, as far as I can see, to my disappointment. His blatant hatred of and disrespect for his classmates has become abundantly clear in the last few weeks, however."

"I see." Nedzu said, looking thoughtful. "And the contents of this folder?" Aizawa smirked slightly.

"Well, some of my students seem to have done our work for us." He said. "it's full of photographs of Mineta engaging in inappropriate conduct, statements from students and accounts of his poor behaviour, audio and video recordings of such behaviour, as well as written essays on the damage that his behaviour has done to class morale." He handed said essays straight to Nedzu. "They are…compelling reads." Nedzu took them with a hum of thanks, flipping through the papers.

"Do you think this has any connection to those posters that appeared around the school last week?" Midnight asked, tapping one document in her hands. "They use the same insults, I noticed." She smirked slightly. "'Rat Bastard' in particular, seems to be a favourite."

Aizawa buried his grin in the folds of the capture weapon looped around his neck. "I consider it likely." Midnight nodded.

"Whoever created this, they must be very hostile towards Mineta." Cementoss murmured, rubbing his chin. "They've put a lot of effort into this." Aizawa nodded.

"Indeed. That doesn't much narrow down suspects; Mineta has not endeared himself to anyone in class recently." He said. "But before we start looking for suspects, I believe we should look over this evidence, and consider the recommendation." He shrugged at the interested looks he received. "I will admit that, on a personal level, his behaviour is unnerving, but he is a generally problematic student. If I can make the learning environment for my class more comfortable, I will. Besides, there is no deficit of talented students in General Studies who can take his place, if need be." Hizashi nodded, shooting Aizawa a knowing look as Nedzu nodded.

"I agree." He said. "I can call the school and inform your first-period classes that they have private study time." Nedzu raised his eyes, gaze glittering. "Shall we?"

* * *

Todoroki felt a thrill of excitement travel down his spine when he noted that Aizawa was absent for their first lesson of the day. Said excitement was preceded by a brief bout of concern; after all, their teacher was also a pro hero, and him getting injured was always a possibility, but Power Loader was quick to reassure him that he had a meeting to attend to, and that he, as well as all of the other absent teachers, were completely fine.

Predictably, only about half the class immediately moved to study. He spotted Kaminari and Jirou slipping into seats next to each other, sharing a pair of earbuds, and also saw Hagakure flit over to talk to Ojirou and Sato. Iida, as expected, told everyone to sit quietly in their seats and study, and was ignored by just about everyone. Even Uraraka, who sat very close to Iida, chose to ignore her friend's advice, and instead leant forward to talk to Mina. Mineta was, blessedly, quiet for once as everyone stalwartly ignored him.

Bakugou slipped out of his chair and propped himself up on the end of Todoroki's, a sharp grin in place.

"I walked past Aizawa's office earlier," he said, leaning in a little and lowering his voice, "Our folder is gone." Todoroki raised an eyebrow, not hiding the small grin that grew on his face. They were both absolutely exhausted, but it would all be worth it if their class' most irritating member got kicked out of school once and for all. He sipped at the thermos of black coffee he had brought to class with him. He offered it to Bakugou when he spotted the other boy looking at it, and Bakugou accepted it with a huff.

Todoroki glanced over Bakugou's shoulder and made eye contact with Midoriya, whose expression looked, yet again, a little strained. Todoroki started a little, but didn't even have time to give Midoriya a smile before his friend was turning back around, looking a little worn down. He felt his stomach sink again. Bakugou, who was still sipping from his thermos, raised an eyebrow and glanced between him and Midoriya, before he rolled his eyes.

"You gotta be kidding me." He muttered. Todoroki shot him a glare.

"Like you can talk." he said. "Spoken to Kirishima lately?" Bakugou elbowed him hard in the shoulder, scowling as he handed the thermos back.

"Whatever, dumbass bastard." He growled. "Just stop making those shitty moon eyes at Deku and go fuck him already." Todoroki flushed at his words and shoved at Bakugou's legs.

"Alright, that's enough, off my desk." Bakugou smirked, flipping him the bird before complying and moving back to his own desk. Shaking his head, Todoroki pulled his workbooks out of his bag, deciding to actually listen to Iida's advice and try get some study done.

Feeling a gaze on him, he looked up to see Midoriya watching him out of the corner of his eye. Todoroki sighed deeply. He had no clue what he had done to offend his best friend, but he was just about done dealing with the odd radio silence. He was getting the truth out of Midoriya, one way or the other.

* * *

'One way or the other' ended up being Todoroki moving to get outside the classroom as fast as possible when class let out, waiting beside the door until Midoriya exited, and then grabbing him by the arm and dragging him down the hallway, ignoring the green-haired boy's many protests and confused sounds along the way. Todorokie tightened his grip when he felt Midoriya trying to pull to get free, hauling him relentlessly. His eyes scanned every room they passed, until he found one that was clearly empty and disused, full of bare student desks, and dragged Midoriya inside, slamming the door shut behind them.

Midoriya was staring at him. "Uhh, Todoroki-kun…what's going on?" Todoroki drew in a breath, fighting down the sudden surge of annoyance that he felt. He could tell by the shifty look on Midoriya's face that the other boy knew exactly what this was about. He sighed. His best friend – his _first_ proper friend – had been avoiding him and frowning and averting his gaze for over a week, and Todoroki was yet to get a proper explanation as to why. The brief conversation he'd had with Midoriya in McDonalds did not count, and they both knew it. Midoriya looked at the floor. "I need to go talk to Uraraka and grab food."

Todoroki reached out as Midoriya moved to walk past him, grabbing his arm and pushing the shorter boy's back against the door. Midoriya made a small squeaking noise in protest, eyes blown wide with shock as Todoroki crowded him against the door, cheeks flushing red. Todoroki loomed over him, one hand braced against the door above Midoriya's head. His friend was staring at him, gaze astonished, though there was something else in his eyes, something deep and heated.

"Midoriya." He said, voice low. "Please don't lie to me." Midoriya gulped, eyes running up and down Todoroki's face. "You've been avoiding me, and acting odd all week, and I don't know why." Midoriya blinked.

"I, uhh, well, um…" he trailed off. "It's…nothing…really…" the colour on Midoriya's cheeks was spreading down his neck and up across his ears. Todoroki frowned as Midoriya pressed himself backwards, angling his body away from him.

"_Midoriya_." He said, leaning in closer. His friend made an odd squeaking noise again, before suddenly ducking under Todoroki's arm and stepping away from him, face crimson and his whole frame full of nervous energy. Midoriya faced away from him, arms folded. Todoroki clenched his hands into fists, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. "Midoriya, please, I just…what did I do?"

He didn't intend for his voice to crack in the middle of his sentence, but it did, and he broke off, looking away. He heard a strangled noise, and Midoriya spun around.

"No, that's…I didn't mean…" Midoriya trailed off, hanging his head low. "I just…that's not what I meant by it, at all. It's not you, I promise. It…" he broke off, voice sounding choked, "it's me. This is because of me."

Todoroki shook his head. "What are you even talking about? What _is_ _it_?" Midoriya blinked hard a few times.

"I…" he trailed off, then sucked in a breath and sat down at one of the empty tables. "I'm so sorry, Todoroki." Todoroki leaned back against the door, watching Midoriya as his friend rubbed his eyes and sighed deeply. "This is on me."

Todoroki waited and watched him, as Midoriya pulled himself together a little. "I was worried that…if I let myself stay close to you, that I would do something stupid and screw up your relationship with Kacchan, and…you're my best friend. You deserve better than that. I'm stupid and selfish and I didn't want you to suffer because of that."

Todoroki sighed. There was something he was missing here; the mention of Bakugou, at least, explained in part why Midoriya seemed so put off every time he had seen him and the angry blond spending time together, but he couldn't understand why that would upset Midoriya so much. Perhaps he was upset because Todoroki had been befriending (or, at least, what he considered befriending) someone who had treated him so badly in the past.

"If you're angry about me spending time with Bakugou, well, I'm sorry, I suppose." He murmured. Midoriya shook his head.

"No, no, no! I don't want to screw up what you have with him." Todoroki blinked at him.

"Well, yeah I hang out with him sometimes, but I wouldn't exactly call it anything special." He said. "I'd rather be friends with you than him." He saw Midoriya's face change, and confusion swamp his features.

"Wait…what?" Midoriya asked. They both stared at one another in confusion for a minute. Todoroki cocked his head to the side, his own baffled look mirrored on Midoriya's face. Midoriya swallowed. "You…I thought you were…dating Kacchan?"

If his confused look was funny, Todoroki was sure that the look of horror on his face would be downright comical. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times, before a noise not unlike a cat being run over escaped his mouth.

"You…wait, you thought _I_ was _dating_ _Bakugou_?" he said, voice strangled. Midoriya flushed, but nodded slowly. Todoroki stared at him. "You…you have seen us interact, right? We're not even friends, not really, but you thought we were _together_?" Midoriya flushed.

"I…well, I just thought…" he trailed off. "It's just…you two have been spending so much time together recently, and when I walked in on you two…" Todoroki pressed a hand to his forehead.

"He…was threatening me, when you walked in, actually." He said, tone full of shock and relief. "We…are not…we would _never_…" he straightened up and removed his hand from his face. "Midoriya, I would _never_ date Bakugou. Even if I had feelings like that towards him, we've never gotten along well. Besides," he said, "between you and me, I think he's far too attached to Kirishima to ever so much as look at anyone else."

Midoriya was silent, before he nodded. "God, I'm such an idiot." he groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I just thought…I mean, you mentioned you liked someone and right after that you two started spending time together and I just…I connected all the wrong dots." Todoroki nodded, a little faintly.

"Just a little." He said. "And, I get it, really." At Midoriya's confused look, he elaborated. "Well, that's why you were upset about the concept of me and Bakugou, I mean, he's hardly been kind to you over the years, I know that much, and I guess it's a bit of a slap in the face if you think that one of your friends is dating someone who…well, _bullied_ you, I guess."

Midoriya was watching him carefully, and he opened his mouth, expression accepting, looking ready to agree, before his brow furrowed, he shut his mouth and shook his head.

"I…no, Todoroki, no." he murmured. "It would be so easy to go ahead and say that I was upset because of everything between me and Kacchan, but…that's not it." he stood up, wringing his hands nervously. The red flush was coming back to his cheeks, and Todoroki felt his heart speed up when Midoriya's bright green eyes met his. "I kept my distance because I didn't trust myself to not…interfere or come off as rude. And I wasn't afraid of doing that because of my past with Kacchan, but because of how I feel about…you."

Todoroki felt like his heart had stopped in his chest as Midoriya took another deep breath. "Todoroki…_Shouto_…I like you, so, so much, and…I was avoiding you when you were around Kacchan because I was jealous. I was jealous of him, because I thought he had you." Midoriya bowed his head again. "I'm sorry for how I was acting. You deserved better from someone who calls themselves your friend."

Midoriya moved to walk past him, and for the second time, Todoroki grabbed him by the arm and pushed him so his back hit the door. This time, however, the shorter boy didn't look distressed or shocked. There was wide-eyed surprise on his face for a moment, before Todoroki leaned down, and caught the smallest glimpse of a smile before he kissed him. Midoriya sighed softly against him, a pleased, relieved sound, and the look on his face was radiant when they broke apart. Todoroki tilted so their foreheads were pressed together.

"Midoriya." He murmured softly, inhaling the scent of the other boy for a minute before he heard a small keening sound from Midoriya as his friend rocketed forwards to kiss him again. A moan escaped him as Midoriya snagged his bottom lip in his teeth and coaxed his mouth open. He pressed the shorter boy harder against the door, and felt his breath stutter in his lungs when he realised how much he was affecting the other. He felt Midoriya fist his hands in the front of his jacket.

"Uhh, sorry…" Midoriya murmured sheepishly, cheeks reddening. Todoroki slid his hands into the loops of Midoriya's belt and brought their hips flush together. Midoriya made a strangled noise, his grip on Todoroki's jacket tightening. The green-haired boy took a deep breath, then glanced over Todoroki's shoulder. He pushed at his chest gently, shoving Todoroki backwards until his knees hit the edge of a chair and he sat down. Midoriya braced his hands on Todoroki's shoulders and shuffled up into his lap. Todoroki shifted his grip to Midoriya's waist, and tried to calm the hammering of his heart.

"And here I was thinking that you had to go talk to Uraraka." Todoroki murmured. Midoriya smiled shyly, and leaned forwards.

"I can always talk to her later." He murmured, looking up at Todoroki through his lashes. Todoroki hummed, wrapping his arms tighter around the boy in his lap and pulling him closer. "Now," Midoriya said, pressing a finger to Todoroki's lips, "unless you're planning on having a conversation right now, hush."

Todoroki could do little more than smile and obey as Midoriya leaned in to kiss him again.

* * *

"Alright, so if you grab his right arm, I'll take the left, and Sero, you got the legs, right?" at the dark-haired boy's nod, Mina took a deep breath. "Alright then, this might just work." Kaminari grinned. They'd been sitting, plotting and brainstorming for a while now, and though they had initially wanted to go for some large-scale plan initially to force Bakugou and Kirishima to talk to each other again, they'd decided to scale things down at the recommendation of Shinsou, who had showed up at their dorms to show off the cat he'd found. Kaminari was glad that his new boyfriend had given said recommendation; the expression on Jirou's face only got wilder the more of their 'discarded plans' she read, which was a pretty good sign that some of them were ill-advised.

"'Kill both of them and start new lives in Mexico'?" the girl questioned, holding up the piece of paper marked by Mina's distinctive handwriting.

"That's one of our last resorts, Kyouka, I promise." Jirou shook her head and plunged a hand back into the pile, with the other gesturing at the small whiteboard they'd been writing on earlier. Four hours' worth of thinking, and the only word written on there was _poison?_.

"I feel like it's a good thing you guys are becoming heroes and not relationship counsellors." She said, "Otherwise you'd probably need about fifteen new identities. A _month_." Mina pouted.

"Okay, I understand that some of them are weird, but some could work, right?" Mina said, tone almost pleading. "They're not _that_ bad."

"I'm sorry, Mina, but they are. Some of these are in_sane_." Jirou murmured as she tugged another abandoned idea out of the bin and squinted at it. "'Shrink the moon'?"

"Oh, no, that was from when I was trying to remember the plot to Despicable Me." Sero said, taking the scrap of paper from her hands. "That's not one of our plans." Jirou stared at him for a moment before shaking her head in defeat. Shinsou, who had sprawled himself out on the carpet next to her, one hand gently stroking the cat lying on his chest, reached out and scooped up a piece of paper.

"'Put on a stage play of _Romeo and Juliet, _force them to play the respective parts, and if all else fails, use real poison and knives at the end'." Shinsou raised an eyebrow. "Hey, that could work." Mina whooped triumphantly as Jirou snatched the paper off him, crumpled it up even more and chucked it across the room.

"Do not encourage them." She begged. "These three are probably going to end up in prison before we graduate anyway. We do _not_ need to speed up that particular process." Kaminari couldn't even offer a denial to that, so he just shrugged and inclined his head in agreement. Shinsou smiled at him, watching as Jirou continued to sift through the pile. She full-on facepalmed when she found one in particular. "'Find someone with a truth quirk and set them loose'." She shot them a pained look. "_Guys_."

Mina held her hands up defensively. "Can I just say that that's in the discarded pile for a reason. Besides, we have a plan now." Jirou looked apprehensive, and Kaminari could tell that Shinsou was hiding a grin.

"Please tell me that it _doesn't_ involve poison." She begged. Shinsou wiggled his eyebrows mischievously.

"Please tell me that it _does_." He pleaded. Jirou shot a glare at the brainwasher as Mina laughed.

"Nah, we're not gonna poison them." Mina reassured Jirou, sharing a disappointed look with Shinsou. "We've decided to go a simpler route."

"Which is?" Jirou asked. Sero shrugged.

"We grab Bakugou, drag him to Kirishima's room, throw him inside and lock the door so neither of them can escape." Jirou sighed.

"It's a little basic, but I guess it's better than all the murder plots." She admitted. Kaminari nodded, stretching before shifting to sit next to his boyfriend. The cat lying on his chest shifted, clambering onto Kaminari's lap. He cooed at it, gently rubbing behind it's ears. Shinsou sat up properly, smirking at him.

"Damn, you're a cat magnet, Kami." Sero laughed. "You and Shinsou really are meant to be." Kaminari stuck his tongue out at his friend, but couldn't fight down a grin. He had been worried how the squad would react to his abrupt coming out, but they'd been just as supportive to him as they had been to Kirishima, offering loving hugs, high-fives and an endless stream of shitty bi puns for hours after they'd found out.

Even better, they had all accepted Shinsou without hesitation. The insomniac's sharp sense of humour made Mina cackle with minimal effort, his blunt demeanour meant that Bakugou could tolerate him, his love of animals had endeared him to Kirishima and his interest in underground heroes had given him and Sero ample conversation topics to work through. He also had enough situational awareness to carefully navigate his way around the current emotional mess between Bakugou and Kirishima. His high grades had also only dragged Kirishima, Mina and Sero closer, as they had begged for tutoring help. Really, Shinsou got along better with Kaminari's friends than Kaminari himself had at first. It didn't make him jealous, though; it just delighted him.

Mina had declared that they should crown Shinsou as an honorary member of the Bakusquad after he'd coached her through the end of a particularly hard essay, and the others had also been all for it, though there was still zero communication between Bakugou and Kirishima at the moment.

"Damn straight." Kaminari said, grinning at Sero before kissing Shinsou on the cheek. The purple-haired boy hummed.

"I feel like 'straight' is a poor word to use to describe us." He mused. Mina laughed.

"Damn gay." Jirou corrected, smirking in amusement. Kaminari jabbed a finger at her accusingly.

"That's bi erasure." He said. Jirou grinned apologetically. Mina sucked in a breath, scooping up her phone as the screen lit up with a text. She looked at Kaminari and Sero.

"Uraraka just texted me, Bakugou's back from his run. Is Kirishima still in his room?"

Jirou nodded. She had set up a camera to watch the hallway where Bakugou and Kirishima's rooms were, and she'd been keeping an eye on it while they'd been brainstorming. "Yup. Now should work." Nodding, Kaminari clambered to his feet, handing the cat back to Shinsou.

"Alright. Jirou, you can distract Kirishima and keep his door open, right?" the dark-haired girl nodded, throwing him a thumbs-up.

"I got you." She said, also getting to her feet and heading in the direction of the fourth floor. Mina, Sero and Kaminari exchanged a look, nodding in determination as they hurried downstairs. Their friends had gone without communicating for too long, and they were hell-bent on getting them to figure it out.

Uraraka had managed to keep Bakugou from storming off to the bathrooms, and though he looked annoyed as she chattered to him about something or other, he didn't look like he was about to blast her out of his way. He always was in a marginally better mood than usual when he got back from his runs, a fact that Kaminari was hoping would keep him from immediately murdering all three of them. Kaminari sucked in a nervous breath. The first part of their plan depended on him, unfortunately.

"Baku! Hey!" he called out cheerfully, keeping any sign of scheming off his face. The blond scowled at him, but didn't immediately start swearing at him.

"What do you want, Pikachu?" he growled. Kaminari let his expression change into something different; shifty and lined with shame.

"Uhh, well, I was gonna ask a favour." He said. Bakugou looked ready to decline, so Kaminari hurried to speak again. "It's just…uhh, well, my English essay. I've finished it," that actually wasn't a lie, and he was rather proud of himself for that fact, "but I need a little help."

Bakugou scoffed and glared at him. "You're top in the class for English, dipshit, why do you need my help?"

"It's just…well, I wanna make sure I didn't make my spelling mistakes, ya know? I…wouldn't really know." Kaminari had, in actuality, gotten Iida to check over his essay earlier, and as bad as he felt about lowkey manipulating Bakugou into coming upstairs with him, he knew that the angry blond had a soft spot, though the other would eternally deny it. Discovering he was dyslexic so late – he'd only been officially tested at 14 – had affected his grades a lot. Things were better at UA, where the teachers and his friends actually supported him, but he could still get stuck on some things.

Bakugou glared, and though his expression was hostile to an outsider, Kaminari had known him long enough to recognise how the fire in his eyes dimmed a little. Hell yes.

"Fine, fucking dumbass." He spat, shoving past him and moving towards the stairs. Kaminari jogged to keep up with him, babbling happy nonsense as he and Bakugou walked up to the third floor. He felt a little bad about this, but if it got Bakugou and Kirishima talking again (and, ideally, dating – he had seen how they looked at each other) then it would be worth it. He threw Bakugou an apologetic smile when he spotted Mina and Sero hiding in the shadows of the stairwell, and before the other boy had time to realise what was happening, they were diving for him.

"What the FUCK?" Bakugou yelled in shock as Kaminari and Mina gripped his arms and Sero tackled his legs, hoisting him into the air and setting off at a run as he finally seemed to realise what was going on. "What the SHIT are you dumbasses doing? Fucking put me down!"

"No can do, Bakubro!" Mina exclaimed as they hustled up the stairs to the fourth floor. "You have the emotional intelligence of a stick of fucking celery and I am done watching you act like a dysfunctional Roomba when it comes to deep conversations and meaningful relationships!"

Bakugou looked completely and utterly bewildered at her words, and Kaminari couldn't blame him. He heard Sero ask for an explanation, and Mina blurted out. "You can't gently boop them and then whiz away! It's unhealthy!" Kaminari squinted at her. She looked like she was crying. What the fuck even was his friendship group?

Jirou leapt out of the way as they skidded to a halt in front of Kirishima's door. The redhead in question jumped back in alarm as they unceremoniously yeeted Bakugou into his room, grabbed the door handle and slammed it shut. Uraraka, who had followed then up the stairs, stuck a chair under the door handle, effectively trapping the pair inside.

They all fell silent, breathing heavily with exertion. Kaminari nudged Mina. "You alright?" she nodded, somewhat tearfully.

"I have drunk so much coffee today." She said, eyes wide. Sero grabbed them both.

"We should probably let them talk things out." He said, shooting the door a nervous look. "I don't wanna hang around if that conversation turns nasty."

* * *

Bakugou got to his feet, staring in shock at the door he had just been hurled through. He cursed Kaminari in his mind, as well as himself for being considerate for once.

_That shithead can get other people to help with his fucking dyslexia then_, _dumbass_. He sighed, running a hand through his spiky hair as he awkwardly shot a look at Kirishima. The redhead had shuffled over to the door, trying and failing to open it. Whatever they had done to the outside, it seemed that they had trapped him and Kirishima inside. He swallowed as Kirishima awkwardly stepped back, before sitting on the end of his bed. Bakugou himself stayed exactly where he was, scuffing his foot across the floor and refusing to look at the other.

"Heh, I, uhh, I probably should have been suspicious when Jirou insisted on talking to me right in my doorway." Kirishima murmured, breaking the silence. Bakugou huffed.

"Dunce Face told me he needed help with a fucking essay." He muttered, glaring at the wall. "Assholes."

He saw Kirishima smile weakly in his peripheral vision, and felt his stomach turn over. "I'm not homophobic." He murmured. Kirishima stiffened, looking up at him. "I know that's what you thought. I'm not. Whatever the opposite of homophobic is, believe me, I'm that."

Kirishima smiled weakly. "I'm fairly certain that the opposite of homophobic is gay, dude." He said, voice full of fake humour. Bakugou hummed, glancing over at the redhead and making momentary eye contact.

"Yeah." He muttered, looking away again before sighing. They were stuck in here, and, he supposed, this was a conversation that had been a long time coming – that was why their friends had locked them in here, most likely. He approached the bed and kicked gently at Kirishima's knees. "Shove over." The redhead obliged, shuffling to the side so Bakugou could slump down onto the mattress beside him. Kirishima was wearing at his lower lip with his teeth, and he was fiddling relentlessly. Bakugou took in the sight of him in small glances.

"You need to redye your roots." He murmured quietly. "The black is visible." Kirishima jerked in surprise, blinking at him. He couldn't blame him for his surprise – he was yet to tell Bakugou, after all, that he dyed his hair red. Bakugou wasn't stupid, though, he had seen the discrepancies between the colour of the majority of Kirishima's hair and the roots. He'd never brought it up because what did it matter? The idiot dyed his shitty hair, so what? He did want to see the natural colour, though. Kirishima would look good with black hair. Bakugou swallowed thickly.

"Right, Mina told me that, too." Kirishima muttered. Silence fell once more for a moment as Kirishima twisted a lock of his hair between his fingers. "I know you're not homophobic, Bakugou. I never thought you were." Bakugou eyed him, silently urging him to continue, and Kirishima rolled his shoulders back before speaking again. "I mean, you're fixated on being Number One, right? You barely care about anything that isn't related to that goal, so I didn't think you'd be the type to care who other people are sleeping with."

And once again, Kirishima was displaying his ability to completely, effortlessly understand Bakugou as a person. His throat closed up. The other was very right in his observations; Bakugou definitely didn't give a shit about other people's sex lives, and that was completely independent of his own sexuality.

"You're not wrong." He murmured. Kirishima bit his lip.

"I knew you weren't homophobic, I was certain of that, but…you…you avoided me, for a long while." Bakugou closed his eyes briefly.

"Yeah, I did." He admitted, not bothering to beat around the bush. "Because, _fuckface_, you call me your best friend all the time." Kirishima nodded, eyes wide and a little confused as to where this was going. "But you went and told fucking Dunce Face and Soy Sauce and Raccoon Eyes and the fucking Terminator that you were gay, but you didn't tell me." He levelled a glare at Kirishima, though it was still far weaker than his looks were. "I was pissed off. I trusted you with my life in Kamino Ward, but you can't even trust me with your sexuality, you bastard." Kirishima took a deep breath at the reminder. The memory was painted clearly in Bakugou's mind, and he knew it always would be; the cold, almost crippling fear, and the firm reassurance of a hand wrapped tightly around his own.

Kirishima bit his lip. "Bakugou…you _are_ my best friend. I didn't mean for it to come off like that. I wasn't expecting to get outed, so I thought I would have time to tell you properly."

Bakugou raised an eyebrow. "Tell me _properly_? What the fuck do you mean by that?"

Kirishims sighed. "Well, you know how it's easier to splurge your secrets on the internet to people who don't matter than it is to, say, your mother?" Bakugou blinked.

"I don't give a fuck about what people think of me." He said simply. "And I definitely don't care what my mother thinks." Kirishima sighed, more deeply, though there was a note of genuine fondness in his face as he smiled slightly at Bakugou.

"I mean, objectively, Bakugou. It's easier to declare to the internet 'hey, I'm gay', because those people are strangers, people who you don't know and probably will never meet, whose opinions will have no impact on your life. But when it comes to people you know…it _means _something, you know? If I came out to strangers on the internet and they reacted badly, well, it's no big deal, but if that happened with my parents, it would mean something." He bit his lip. "The closer someone is to you, the more you care about what they think of you."

Bakugou was about to contest that, when he recalled, with no small amount of embarrassment, a few instances where that was true. The time he'd actually bothered to dress in nice clothes because his mother had been dragging him along to see Auntie Inko, and he didn't want her to think he was a _completely _lost cause. The time he had actually gone ahead and practised on the drums for the concert with Jirou, because he had seen how important it was to her, and didn't want someone in class who he didn't mind to then hate him. The time…the time he had agreed to wear the suit Kirishima had bought for him, because the other boy had picked it out for him, and he had hoped that the other would be looking at him.

He fell silent, grumbling in agreement. Kirishima looked relieved that Bakugou understood, and nodded.

"Well, as much as I adore Mina and Kami and Sero and Tetsu…I…care about how you see me slightly more than I do about how they would. I would have cared more if you reacted badly than if they did. It was easier to come out to them because, yes, I knew none of them were homophobic, but also because it was a way of working my way up to telling you. Because I cared about how you would react." Kirishima looked away. "I guess that doesn't matter now, since you found out before I got the chance."

Bakugou huffed. "So, you were hesitant to tell me because you cared more about my reaction." At Kirishima's nod, he sighed, ignoring how his stomach fluttered pleasantly at that revelation. "Right." He turned to look at the other. "But that doesn't explain everything." Kirishima blinked, and he decided to elaborate. "What you and Mina were talking about a few days ago." The little colour Kirishima had regained in his face abruptly fled. Bakugou scowled. "Don't bullshit me and try to tell me that you were still talking about you being gay, because I knew about that already, and I know you knew I knew. So, what the hell else is it that you're trusting the others with and not me?"

Kirishima waved his hands in a placating gesture. "No, no, no! I definitely didn't tell everyone about that." He bit his lip. "Mina…figured it out on her own and confronted me about it." Bakugou frowned.

"Well what the fuck is it, then?" Kirishima paled a little again, shaking his head again.

"It's…it's nothing, really." He murmured, turning away, "But, uh, now that we've worked things out, do you think the others will let us out now?" Bakugou gritted his teeth, clenching his fists to muffle the explosions crackling along his palms as Kirishima looked away from him.

"Oh no you don't, you stupid fucking bastard." He spat. "Fucking explain, _now_." He jabbed a finger in Kirishima's face threateningly. The other boy blinked, looking a little wary before again averting his eyes.

"Bakugou…it _really_ doesn't matter…" he murmured. Bakugou growled.

"I think I'll decide that for myself." He snapped. Kirishima shook his head.

"It wouldn't accomplish anything," the redhead insisted, turning away, "it would only make things weird again." Bakugou scowled openly at Kirishima's back.

"Listen up fuckface," he spat, "you can either tell me whatever this is, which could potentially make me not talk to you ever again, or not tell me, which will _definitely_ result in me never fucking talking to you again." He heard a stuttering sound from Kirishima, and reeled back when he saw tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. Fuck, this guy had cried way too much in the last two weeks. Bakugou hovered awkwardly, completely unsure of how to deal with the situation.

"I just…" Kirishima hiccupped and, oh, fuck, he was actually crying now. Bakugou cringed. "I don't want to push you away." He sucked in a shaking breath. "The last two weeks have been awful, not talking to you. I can't imagine two more years of that." Bakugou shifted uncomfortably, leaning forwards a little.

"Then tell me what it is. The only way I'm guaranteed to avoid you forever is if you don't tell me at all, so stop being a stupid bitch and tell me." Kirishima sniffled, looking up at Bakugou for a moment before his eyes shifted, and he was lunging forwards. Bakugou barely had time to think _is this fucker going to slam dunk me into the ground_ before there was a pressing warmth against his mouth.

He had never been kissed before.

He…didn't hate it. That was the only coherent thought that he was able to scrounge up when Kirishima pulled away like he had been burned, a sob tearing free of his throat as he continued to cry. Bakugou stared ahead blankly, heart thundering and an odd buzzing filling his ears.

"Shit, I'm sorry." Kirishima murmured, rubbing his face with his hands. "I'm so sorry." Burying his head in his arms, Kirishima shook his head again. "I can't do anything right." He stared at the redhead, feeling like his limbs had frozen. Kirishima sucked in another deep breath. "I was hesitant to come out to you because…well, I like you, I think that's obvious now." _It is? Oh shit, yeah, he just kissed me, that makes sense_. "But I know that you're focused on study and becoming the best and I am totally behind that, because you're amazing and you'll definitely be one of the top pros." _Thanks, glad you agree._ "I just didn't want to be selfish when you don't have the time to spare to worry about shit like romance or love or stuff." _Hey now, that's a little presumptuous. _"And I know you don't feel that way about me and _god_, you probably don't even swing that way, _shit_ I am an idiot-"

Bakugou's body finally started responding to his brain's commands as he forced himself into a standing position. Kirishima winced, turning his gaze to the floor as Bakugou approached. he reached out and seized the front of the redhead's baggy hoodie. "How _fucking dare you-_" he spat, seeing Kirishima flinch away slightly, expression crumpling. He tightened his grip, shaking the other a little. "How fucking _dare_ you assume what I do and don't want." Kirishima's sadness and dread were wiped away, replaced with confusion. Bakugou gritted his teeth. "You've been acting like a complete and utter _fuckwit_ because you were deciding what I wanted for me. You dumbass."

He released Kirishima's hoodie, taking a step back as he breathed deeply. "You idiot. You fucking shot yourself in the foot before you even tried to run." Kirishima looked at him uncertainly.

"What…what would have happened if I had tried to run?" he murmured, voice quiet. Bakugou scowled.

"You would have won the race, being the only fucking competitor." He spat, horrified when he felt burning behind his eyes. "You're the only one, dumbass, the only fucking one. It's only ever been you." Kirishima's eyes were wide, and the redhead took a cautious step forward. Bakugou could feel the tears he almost always kept trapped and hidden away blurring his vision. He turned so that he wasn't facing Kirishima directly anymore. "Don't _ever_ think you can predict what I want, dipshit. Because you've already proven that you're _shit _at it."

"I'm sorry." Kirishima murmured, eyes wide as he swallowed and took another step forward. "I'm sorry, Bakugou."

"Katsuki." Bakugou spat out. Kirishima's eyes got even wider as one of his hands came to rest on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Katsuki." He murmured, pulling him closer. Bakugou didn't let Kirishima kiss him, but he did let the redhead wrap his arms around him in a tight hug. He sighed, blinking back his tears before they could fall, allowing himself to press his face into Kirishima's shoulder.

"You dumbass." He muttered, ignoring the pleased shiver that travelled up his spine when he felt Kirishima tracing shapes into his shoulder with his fingers. "Your gaydar is non-existent." Kirishima laughed then, his first proper laugh in two weeks, and Bakugou melted.

"True. I didn't pick up on Kami at all." He mused. Bakugou rolled his eyes.

"The fact that you didn't mention me, Todoroki or Deku there is you proving your own point." He heard Kirishima's surprised gasp.

"Wait, really?" Bakugou frowned as Kirishima pulled away from him.

"Yes, really. How the fuck am I the only one who's realised that fucking Icyhot is gay? He's obvious as hell." Kirishima blinked, flushing.

"Well, yeah, that's surprising, but I meant…you…you're gay?" Bakugou shot him a flat look.

"I'm gonna punch you real soon." He muttered. Kirishima waved his hands around again.

"Sorry! I mean, you heavily implied it, but I didn't want to _assume_-" Bakugou rolled his eyes, punching Kirishima solidly in the arm.

"Just kiss me again, you fucking moron."

* * *

Kaminari got the signal to release Bakugou and Kirishima from their makeshift prison about an hour after they had locked the two of them inside. It was picture texted to him by Kirishima, of Bakugou tucked comfortably under the redhead's arm, glaring but blushing adorably at the same time. Kirishima was pressing a kiss to Bakugou's cheek (hence the blushing) in the picture, and judging by the state of both of them, Bakugou's cheek wasn't the only place Kirishima had been kissing recently.

Kaminari audibly whooped when he got it, triumphantly turning to Jirou and declaring that she owed him 5000 yen. His phone was passed around and 'awwed' over by everyone, before Mina and Shinsou decided to take one for the team and remove the chair from under the door handle.

And yes, Bakugou spent the rest of the afternoon chasing after his friends, hollering abuse at them, but it made for good cardio, at least, and the updated relationship status on Kirishima's social media pages made it all worth it.

* * *

Mineta gawked at Aizawa, gaze shifting from the pile of official documents in his teacher's hands.

"You…you're kidding me." He stuttered hopelessly. Aizawa hummed, looking completely disinterested in the proceedings.

"No, I'm not." He said simply. "For consistently sexually harassing your female classmates, displaying distinctly unheroic traits and behaviours, and for inflicting aggressive and homophobic language on other students, the administration has decided to take severe action." He eyed the small boy. "You've been expelled, Mineta."

Mineta gaped in shock. "You can't do that!" he shrieked. Aizawa blinked sleepily at him.

"Given that you are the 155th student I've expelled as a teacher here, yes, I can." He said simply. "You can pack up your room and get out. I'm sure your parents can find another school to enrol you in, somewhere." He turned away, shuffling the papers in his hands. "The administration's decision is final."

Mineta looked ready to start crying, even as his face screwed up in anger. "Is this just because of Kirishima? It's not my fault that he's-"

"I would like to let you know, Mineta," Aizawa interrupted, levelling an impressive glare at him, "that this is probably the kindest route. Given the evidence against you, it would be possible for us to raise sexual harassment charges against you. We've decided, however, to leave that decision down to the girls in Class 1-A, rather than go over their heads to do it. Unless you want me to convince the staff to go down that alternate route, I would keep your words to yourself."

Mineta scowled, but actually looked a little cowed at that. Aizawa raised an eyebrow at him. "Well? You have an entire room to clean out, you'd best get to it."

"Is there no-one I can go to about this?" Mineta snapped. "This is unfair." Aizawa hummed, before a idea, full of vindictive glee, came to mind. He considered it for a moment. Was he that petty?

Yes, the answer was always yes.

"I guess so." He said. "You can always talk to Present Mic if you want to appeal the decision." At Mineta's victorious look, he added. "My husband's long been the one to deal with cases like this."

Mineta blinked, and Aizawa could tell that the statement didn't sink in at first. He had to try very hard to suppress the grin that threatened to take over his face as Mineta's expression slowly contorted in shock and horror. The boy was looking at him in mild terror, and Aizawa knew that he was likely considering his every interaction with Hizashi, and realising with mounting horror that he had all year been taught by a married gay man. He displayed no reaction to Mineta's horror, though, and just raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

Mineta shook his head, mouth turned down in disgust as he took a step back. "I'll just pack my room, then. This whole school is crazy." He spat. Aizawa hummed.

"Good. Get to it, then." He said, completely unaffected as he turned on his heel and left the boy in the dust behind him.

* * *

Shinsou blinked at his teacher when she extended an arm in front of him to prevent him entering the classroom. "Uhh, sensei? Is there a problem?" his teacher was smiling at him.

"Not a problem, but a little change." She said, gesturing for him to follow her. "There have been a few important discussions taking place around the hero course and student body in the last few days." Shinsou looked at her in confusion as he followed her down the hallway. "I will say, it has been a pleasure to teach you this year, Shinsou, and I have no doubt you'll flourish without my oversight." Shinsou frowned, ready to ask what exactly was going on, when his gaze strayed over her shoulder and landed on the classroom ahead. His heart thudded to a stop in his chest as he took in the letters on it.

"Wait, what-" his teacher smiled at him, clapping him on the shoulder.

"A spot just opened up in the hero course." She said warmly. "You're the highest performing student in General Studies, so…" she trailed off, grinning as she knocked on the door. Shinsou stared, feeling like the floor had fallen away from under his feet when the door was slid open. Aizawa eyed him, and Shinsou knew he didn't imagine the hint of a smile on his mentor's face.

"Ahh, thank you." He said to Shinsou's homeroom teacher. He opened the door wider and stepped backwards. "Come in, Hitoshi." With his (old?) teacher smiling encouragingly at him and Aizawa watching him expectantly, he stepped inside, taking in the loud, friendly cacophony of Class 1-A. He stared at the familiar sights of some of the people he'd befriended. From one side of the room, Midoriya spotted him and sat up in his chair, grin almost blinding, as he nudged the person in front of him, Bakugou, who looked disgruntled as he looked up. The glare dimmed in intensity when he spotted Shinsou, though. Evidently, talking things through with Kirishima yesterday had vastly improved his mood. Aizawa marched to the front of the room, making them all fall silent. Aizawa gestured loosely to Shinsou, and he heard a small, surprised noise from the side of the room. Glancing over, he saw his boyfriend bobbing up and down in his chair in excitement, eyes fixed on Shinsou and grin ecstatic. The sight made warmth burst to life in his chest.

"Right, listen up." Aizawa said. "As some of you may be aware, Mineta was expelled from UA yesterday for the behaviour he displayed towards other students." Someone at the back of the classroom whooped, and Aizawa shook his head slightly before ploughing onwards. "Since this opened up a spot in the hero course, the highest achieving student from General Studies has been chosen to transfer into our class." He gestured to Shinsou, who rather felt like he was in danger of crying. "If you would, welcome your new classmate."

The wave of noise that slammed into him made the cacophony from earlier seem inconsequential in comparison. Shinsou felt his cheeks flood with heat as he was faced with nineteen smiling, cheering and clapping teenagers. He barely had time to adapt to the noise before Kaminari had bounded out of his seat and thrown his arms around his boyfriend, cheering happily. Shinsou returned the hold almost numbly, astonished when he saw that even Bakugou was clapping, as disinterested as he looked in the proceedings.

Aizawa waved his hands to get them calmed down, though there were smiles in place all around. Kaminari reluctantly let go of him, slipping back into his own seat. Aizawa gestured to the side of the classroom, where Shinsou could see a spare seat behind Midoriya, who grinned in delight as he ducked over and slid into the seat, feeling a little lightheaded. He was ready to keel over with happiness when a girl with an impressive ponytail of black hair raised her hand.

"Aizawa sensei…may I ask about the circumstances of Mineta's expulsion?" The question resonated with all of them, and Shinsou folded his hands in front of him as the class fell silent and fixed their eyes on their teacher.

* * *

Todoroki watched Aizawa carefully as Yaoyorozu continued. "I mean no disrespect, sir, and I am very happy with his development." She shot a smile at Shinsou, who looked a little surprised. "But I am also curious as to why Mineta was expelled at this point in the year."

Bakugou, who had looked over his shoulder to watch Yaoyorozu as she asked her question, made eye contact with Todoroki. He shrugged slightly, and Bakugou inclined his head to the side, turning to face the front again when Aizawa sighed.

"Mineta displayed extremely disrespectful behaviour to countless students, on numerous occasions, for many different reasons, throughout the entire time he was a part of this class, as I'm sure you are aware." They all nodded. Aizawa sighed. "The last few weeks acted as further incentive to expel him for this behaviour," several people glanced at Kirishima at those words, before turning back to their teacher, "but it was ultimately the overwhelming evidence against him, in addition to the opinions that his classmates evidently had of him, that pushed the decision forward.

"It was not made lightly, I will say that much, and neither was the selection of the new student to our class made with haste. Principal Nedzu himself had an input in this discussion. Though known for expelling students I may be, I didn't want to lightly disregard the potential of anyone in this class. You've all been through a lot, and likely will continue to do so." He said, shooting Shinsou a look of warning. "But Mineta's conduct towards female students, as well as his bigoted behaviour, proved to be too much." Aizawa ducked down, retrieving something from near his feet and dumping it on his desk.

Todoroki barely was able to keep his expression blank as the huge dossier he and Bakugou had compiled thudded loudly onto the wood. The rest of the class eyed it curiously. He had almost forgotten how huge it really was. They'd put hours and hours' worth of work into it, and Todoroki was very happy that their efforts had not gone to waste.

"This folder was left in my office two days ago." Aizawa said simply. "It's filled with pictures, videos, transcripts, statements and even essays detailing Mineta's behaviour both in and out of class. It took the administration quite a long time to sift through, hence my absence yesterday morning, but the evidence is overwhelming." By the end of his statement, everyone in class save Bakugou and Todoroki were gaping at the folder.

"But…that thing is huge! How much stuff is in there?" Yaoyorozu asked, staring at it in shock. Aizawa raised an eyebrow.

"Enough to convince half the staff that Mineta should be expelled without hesitation." He said simply. Murmuring broke out among the class as they stared at it. The folder really was huge, and the string that was still tied around it did nothing to understate its size. Todoroki clasped his hands in front of his face, resting his elbows on his desk to hide his grin. Bakugou was smirking. "In any case," Aizawa said, "the decision is final. If Mineta has trouble getting admitted to another school, well, it is his own fault for engaging in the conduct that he did."

He removed the folder from the desk, propping it in his arms. Todoroki barely had time to wonder what he was doing before his teacher's gaze was on him, burning with knowing. He froze, and saw Bakugou do the same as Aizawa's gaze swept to him.

"Bakugou, Todoroki." He said simply, jerking his head to the side to indicate he wanted them to stand up. Todoroki winced, reluctantly obeying as Bakugou also huffed and stood. Aizawa handed the massive folder to Todoroki, and he flinched a little under the weight. "The next time you two have complaints to make about a student, an official statement to a member of staff will suffice."

Todoroki bit his lip, nodding, while Bakugou rolled his eyes, smirking ever so slightly. The rest of the class was gawking at them, eyes shifting from them to the folder and back again as everyone made the connection.

"_Holy. Shit._" He heard someone, probably Mina, murmur. Aizawa raised an eyebrow at them, but Todoroki could tell that their teacher was definitely amused. He scurried back to his seat, shoving the huge folder under his seat and ignoring the incredulous looks he was getting from the people seated around him. The class was shifty and distracted for the rest of the lesson, and Aizawa shot Todoroki and Bakugou an unsympathetic look as he called it to an end 15 minutes early so he could nap.

The minute the zip on their teacher's sleeping bag was done up completely, Mina was shrieking in delight and hurling herself to their side of the room. Her gaze flickered between Todoroki and Bakugou as she gradually grew more and more excited.

"Holy crap, you guys are _wild_." She whispered, voice almost reverent. Midoriya was looking at him with a shocked expression on his face.

"So, wait…when you two were spending tons of time together," he said, finger moving between the two of them, "you were really just trying to screw with Mineta?" Todoroki and Bakugou exchanged a look, shrugged and nodded. Midoriya gawked at them both. "Oh damn."

Uraraka, who had approached from her seat, was shaking her head slightly, a hand pressed to her heart. "You two are my heroes." Bakugou scowled.

"He was a fucking pest. We just got rid of him is all." He muttered, glaring at the rest of their classmates. Kirishima was grinning as he slid forward and elbowed Bakugou in the side.

"That's mean, Katsuki." He lectured cheerfully. Bakugou rolled his eyes as Kirishima slung a hand around his shoulders, grinning. Todoroki raised an eyebrow at the first-name usage. They really were a thing now, huh. He saw a few other people glance at one another in surprise, but obviously decided against bringing it up.

"Well, on behalf of the girls Mineta has harassed all year, thank you both." Yaoyorozu, bowing low. "It's going to be a relief to not have to watch what clothes I wear anymore."

Todoroki shrugged. "I mean, things didn't exactly go the way I personally wanted, but the outcome is still good." Jirou cocked her head to the side.

"What could be a better alternative than him getting expelled?" she asked. "That's the perfect resolution, in my mind." Todoroki shrugged.

"Well, I personally wanted to get Uraraka to slap him in the face so we could float him into the sun-" Midoriya choked on thin air as Uraraka devolved into cackling laughter, "-but apparently murder 'isn't heroic' and is 'inadvisible'." He said. Mina's eyes were wide.

"I'm concerned that you put that in air quotes but still, mood." She chirped, grinning. "So, you two just decided to make a giant folder of his sins?"

Bakugou huffed. "Not exactly. I just wanted to fuck with him in general, but the shit that happened on Friday was a last straw, so we decided to make the folder." Mina was leaning forward, eyes alight with delight.

"Wait, what else did you do?" she asked, the rest of their classmates pressing forwards in excitement.

"Well there were the abusive posters, obviously," Todoroki murmured, listing things off as he counted on his fingers, "plus us asking the administration to do pro LGBT stuff to piss him off-"

"You two were responsible for that?" Tsuyu said, looking surprised. At their nods, she hummed thoughtfully, tapping her chin. "I see. Perhaps I should have anticipated the poster thing. I do remember you calling Mineta a 'rat bastard' quite frequently, Bakugou." Bakugou smirked, looking very proud of that fact.

"There was also the T-posing…" Todoroki recalled, trailing off as Kaminari squawked in surprise.

"Is this heaven? Have I fucking ascended?" the blond murmured. "Bakugou and Todoroki…T-posed?" he tipped his head back, blinking rather frequently. "Dudes, I am not religious but if I saw that, I would be."

"Not to mention Todoroki dumping a drink all over Mineta in McDonalds." Mina crowed with delight, which set off a whole new round of shock and delight. Todoroki leant back against his desk as he and Bakugou took turns explaining, smiling when Midoriya sidled over to him and slotted their hands together. Shinsou, looking delighted by the proceedings, was grinning away (in a way similar to Aizawa, hmm), and Todoroki let himself relax a little, squeezing his boyfriend's hand.

"Now this, this is what Class 1-A is all about." Kaminari declared to Shinsou. The brainwasher raised an eyebrow.

"Memes, gay rights, traumatising perverts and putting the FBI to shame?" he questioned. Kaminari placed a hand on his own heart, sniffling dramatically.

"_He's ready_." The blond said ominously. "Welcome to Class 1-A." Grinning, Kaminari scooped up a water bottle and hoisted it into the air.

"Here's to Shinsou! The good purple boi to replace our shitty purple boi!" the rest of them scrambled for a beverage of some sorts (Todoroki and Midoriya ended up holding the same thermos, and Mina balanced her boba tea on her head so that four different people could grip it). Kaminari grinned. "And here's to Bakugou and Todoroki! May we never ever get on their bad side! Because! Holy _shit_!"

Bakugou nodded, grinning, and turned to Todoroki with a considering look on his face. Todoroki raised a challenging eyebrow, and Bakugou seemed to hum in approval before extending his hand, Todoroki realised, for a high-five.

_Well, we got there eventually_. Todorok thought as he accepted it, to widespread cheers.

"So, does that make us friends now?" he asked the angry blond as they grabbed their things to go to their next lesson. Bakugou scowled, though there was humour in his eyes.

"Don't push your luck, dickwad."

"You're such an asshole."

"Guilty as charged." Bakugou smirked, dodging out of the way of Todoroki's elbow as they headed outside. Todoroki smiled. Being Mineta-free was a good feeling, he decided, a very good one indeed. Being on friendly terms with the class Pomeranian was almost as good.

He grabbed Midoriya's hand again, and followed his friends to class.

* * *

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourites and followed this! I hope you all enjoyed :D**


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